Strengthening student writing and self-esteem in Junior School
At Wesley, we know that creating a supportive learning environment can help to build students’ confidence, resilience and enjoyment of school. Year 2 teachers have taken it a step further, teaching students at our St Kilda Road Campus how to use positive self-talk to support their own learning.
‘Self-talk is what students say to themselves before they start a new task,’ explains PYP Head of Learning (English) and Year 2 teacher, Anna Clark. ‘Being able to identify and address any discomfort or anxiety they may be feeling before starting a new or difficult task helps them to normalise their feelings, so they’ll be better equipped to cope with any challenges that life throws at them.’
‘Students were encouraged to identify where they feel these emotions in their bodies and represent them by drawing a ‘mind monster,’ said Anna. ‘From there, they explored positive phrases they could say to themselves when faced with difficult tasks.’
For Year 2 student Marcus, saying, ‘You can do it!’ or ‘I can do hard things!’ helps him attack new tasks with a positive mindset.
Students have also been applying positive self-talk to their writing. As Year 2 teacher Emma Lockwood-Sutton explains, this intentional approach has made a noticeable difference.
‘Before they start a writing session, each student identifies which self-talk phrases they will use. The difference has been significant, with noticeable increases in self-esteem and improved self-regulation,’ said Emma. ‘Students have progressed through the year from feeling stuck and saying, "I want my teacher to do this for me" to being able to say, "I’m really good at this, but I need help with this part" or writing whole pages independently.’
Anna completed her master’s thesis in 2025 on self-regulation and how it links to students’ ability to write, while Emma has recently completed a Graduate Diploma in Counselling.
‘Research tells us that when students are able to regulate their emotions, they are better prepared to tackle tasks and new situations, and that this can be applied in a structured way to how they write,’ says Anna.
Now, when a debilitating mind monster comes in, students are ready to defeat them. ‘I use my self-talk when I write to help me be more confident and I feel brave enough to tell everyone about my writing,’ says Lishu (Year 2).
