English Writing Compositionusually ages 11–14

Developed Informational and Explanatory Writing

Write informative and explanatory texts that examine a topic and convey ideas clearly — organising information logically with headings and formatting, developing the topic with relevant facts, definitions, details, and quotations, and using precise vocabulary

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Organise an explanatory essay with a clear introduction, logical body paragraphs, and a conclusion
Develop a topic using well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, and quotations from sources
Use domain-specific vocabulary and formatting (headings, graphics) to aid the reader's comprehension

🖨 Print this page to keep the checklist — it prints beautifully.

Try this together

Can your child write a clear explanation of how something works — like how a volcano erupts or how bread is made — so that someone who's never learned about it would understand?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Choosing Form and Tone for Your Audienceages 9–10Writing to explain requires understanding audience and purpose from KS2

Writing for an audienceages 9–11Writing well-structured informative/explanatory texts that examine a topic clearly requires the foundational ability to produce coherent, task/purpose-appropriate writing

Layout and Formatting in Informational Writingages 10–11Informative writing extends KS2 use of layout devices (headings, columns, bullets)

Cohesion and Transitions Across Writingages 11–14Writing informative/explanatory texts with logical organisation and clear development of ideas across sections requires the ability to use cohesive devices and transitions to create coherence at whole-text level

Developed Informational and Explanatory Writingthis skill · ages 11–14

Unlocks

Research & Source Evaluationages 11–14Research writing feeds into informative/explanatory writing

Writing Science Reportsages 13–14Writing a structured secondary-level scientific report requires the informative/explanatory writing skills taught in English — logical organisation, precise vocabulary, and supporting detail

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).

Show candidate curriculum codes · 3 ACARA · 2 NSW · 3 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9E5LA04medium confidenceYear 5 · Language

understand how texts can be made cohesive by using the starting point of a sentence or paragraph to give prominence to the message and to guide the reader through the text

AC9E6LA03medium confidenceYear 6 · Language

explain how texts across the curriculum are typically organised into characteristic stages and phases depending on purposes, recognising how authors often adapt text structures and language features

AC9E6LY01low confidenceYear 6 · Literacy

examine texts including media texts that represent ideas and events, and identify how they reflect the context in which they were created

NSW syllabus codes & stages only

EN3-CWT-01high confidenceEnglish K-10 · Stage 3

EN3-UARL-02low confidenceEnglish K-10 · Stage 3

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2E5LY10medium confidenceEnglish · Level 5 · Literacy strand

VC2E6LY06medium confidenceEnglish · Level 6 · Literacy strand

VC2E6LY09medium confidenceEnglish · Level 6 · Literacy strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Cohesion and Transitions Across Writingages 11–14 Persuasive Writingages 11–14 Planning, Revising and Editing Writingages 11–14 Research & Source Evaluationages 11–14

All Writing Composition skills →