Short Stories with St Justin's Primary School

The anthology created by St Justin’s in 2018 is a great example of our standard product: a book of short narrative fiction of all genres, made in collaboration with a children’s author. Our theme was “A Journey or Quest”, and students were able to create whatever type of story took their fancy. We had sci-fi, fantasy, horror, mystery, comedy, drama, fairytale, sports, action… and everything in between.

The project included a great group of students, a mix of intervention and accelerated students spanning from grades 3-6. For the accelerated students, it was a great chance to expand even further on their creative writing skills, while taking responsibility for helping the intervention students to catch up a little with their skills. There was a great sense of teamwork and solidarity within the project, and best of all, not a hint of competitiveness. Students were aware that they were working on one book, together, so teamwork was the best approach to make the book as good as possible. Along the way, we learned some important lessons…

• How to create an intriguing introduction

• How to create interesting characters

• How to transport the reader to your setting

• Making the story connect - from start to finish

• How to make the story feel whole (and not meandering)

• And many more lessons

The result is a fantastic book that St Justin’s should be proud of.

"After each Launch Pad workshop with Ander Louis, the students identified themselves more and more as authors. The students were inspired to think creatively and they learnt how to respond effectively to the flow of a writing experience. There was an obvious growth in confidence as students excitedly created their own stories. Ander took the students into the world of the author and now we have students who believe in themselves as writers" - Majella Shiel, Teacher/Literacy Leader, St Justin’s Wheelers Hill