How to mark your child’s timed writing
Review your child’s timed writing with a practical checklist for ideas, structure, vocabulary, grammar and purpose, plus examples of useful feedback.
Read the guideParent guides
Make practice more useful.
Practical explanations to help you support your child with reading, writing, maths and reasoning, and understand their school pathways.
37 guides
Writing practice
Generating story ideas for timed writing
Turn a story prompt into a manageable plan with a character, problem, decision and ending. Includes an original worked example for Year 5 and Year 6 writing.
Read the guideShow, don’t tell: choosing the moments that matter
Use action, sensory detail and concise narration to strengthen a short story. Includes before-and-after examples and a focused revision exercise.
Read the guideUsing dialogue in a short story: make each exchange count
Learn when dialogue develops a story, when to summarise a conversation and how to check speech punctuation, with original examples for young writers.
Read the guideChoosing a position in persuasive writing
Choose a clear position you can support with relevant reasons, examples and explanation. Includes a worked school-library argument and counterargument.
Read the guideUnderstanding the essay question before you write
Check purpose, audience, form and conditions before planning a writing response. Includes examples showing how similar prompts require different answers.
Read the guideHelping your child write a short story: a home practice routine
Support a child’s own story through planning, drafting and focused revision, with a practical example and feedback that preserves their voice.
Read the guideVerbal reasoning
Verbal reasoning logic: all, some and if–then
Original examples of quantifiers, overlapping groups and conditional chains.
Read the guideSynonyms and antonyms: choose the precise meaning
Practise similar and opposite word meanings with worked examples, context checks and a practical vocabulary routine for Year 5 and Year 6 students.
Read the guideParent support
Supporting your child through selective exam preparation
A manageable routine, constructive feedback and a balanced view of scores.
Read the guideReading comprehension
Poetry reading comprehension: meaning, evidence and imagery
An original poem with worked questions on meaning, inference and figurative language.
Read the guideContext Clues: Finding Word Meaning in Reading Comprehension
Learn how to find word meaning from context, compare possible definitions and use surrounding evidence, with original examples for Year 5 and Year 6 practice.
Read the guideCause and Effect in Reading Comprehension: Follow the Evidence
Distinguish causes, effects and event order with original reading examples, worked answers and a simple method for checking causal relationships.
Read the guideFigurative Language: Six Devices and What They Mean
Practise simile, metaphor, idiom, hyperbole, understatement and personification with original examples and worked reading-comprehension questions.
Read the guideNarrative Reading Comprehension: Details, Inference and Main Idea
Use an original short story to practise facts, inference, sequence, main idea and theme, with explanations showing how each answer follows from the text.
Read the guideNon-Fiction Reading Comprehension: Main Idea and Evidence
Practise main idea, supporting details, comparison, author purpose and summary with an original informational passage and worked reading questions.
Read the guideCritical reading: claims, evidence and conclusions
Help your child distinguish claims, opinions and evidence using an original worked example, while answering exactly what the reading question asks.
Read the guideReading autobiographical accounts: memory, expectation and reflection
Separate events, expectations and later reflections in first-person accounts, with an original fictional practice recount and worked questions.
Read the guideHistorical reading passages: establish the setting and use evidence
Read unfamiliar historical settings by checking context, sequence and viewpoint, with an original fictional passage and evidence-based questions.
Read the guideReading interview transcripts: follow the speaker and the evidence
Practise speaker attribution, qualification and interviewer assumptions with an original fictional interview and worked comprehension questions.
Read the guideMaths and numerical reasoning
Selective-school maths word problems: three worked examples
Step-by-step solutions for averages, percentages and journey time.
Read the guideNumerical reasoning: number series and number grids
Worked examples of changing differences, alternating sequences and grid rules.
Read the guideNumber fundamentals: order of operations, factors and checking
Review order of operations, factors, multiples and negative numbers with checked worked examples and practical ways to find calculation mistakes.
Read the guideFractions, decimals and percentages: convert, calculate and check
Practise equivalent fractions, decimal conversions and percentage changes with worked examples that distinguish exact answers from estimates.
Read the guidePerimeter, area and volume: choose the right measurement
Distinguish boundary length, surface area and volume using worked rectangle, border and prism problems, with unit checks and common mistakes explained.
Read the guideNumerical reasoning: turn words and codes into relationships
Translate verbal relationships and defined symbols into calculations, with checked examples on comparisons, constant rates and coded operations.
Read the guidePractice strategies
Abstract reasoning: a method for finding a consistent rule
Identify the task, track changing features and test a rule against every frame. A practical introduction to visual reasoning with original examples.
Read the guideAbstract reasoning patterns: rotation, reflection and combination
Distinguish common visual transformations using self-contained examples and checks for rotation, reflection, counting, movement and overlapping features.
Read the guideMathematics and numerical reasoning: how practice differs
Understand the overlap between mathematics and numerical reasoning, then choose practice based on calculation, modelling and pattern-recognition needs.
Read the guideReading comprehension practice: a flexible evidence-first routine
Choose a reading approach that preserves whole-text understanding, then use evidence to answer detail, inference, main-idea and purpose questions.
Read the guideVerbal reasoning practice: words, relationships and logic
Plan verbal reasoning practice around vocabulary, analogies and logical relationships, with original examples and ways to review mistakes.
Read the guideParent planning
Brisbane State High sporting and cultural entry: what to check
Understand which official pathway information to read, what evidence to organise and why academic practice is different from a sporting or cultural application.
Read the guideNAPLAN reading: support learning at each year level
Understand the assessed year levels, choose suitable reading practice and interpret results with the current official NAPLAN guidance.
Read the guideACER scholarship tests: a parent application checklist
Check the participating school, entry level, application requirements and official preparation resources before registering for an ACER scholarship test.
Read the guideICAS and selective-school preparation: useful overlap, different tasks
Compare ICAS learning goals with selective-school preparation without assuming equivalent scores, formats or admission requirements.
Read the guideDoes your child need a tutor for QASMT preparation?
Decide whether tutoring addresses an identified learning need, compare support options and ask useful questions before committing to a programme.
Read the guideQASMT merit pool: understand the notice and next steps
Understand what merit-pool consideration means, follow official requests for updated evidence and keep alternative plans in place without assuming an offer.
Read the guide