A fresh idea is a reading of the prompt a reader won't predict, and markers look for it. Children in Year 5 now write from a prompt on 6 March 2027 in Perth, Bunbury and Albany.
Each example starts with the plain idea that comes to mind first, then finds a fresher one in the same prompt. Each shows both ideas and why the second works better. Read them with your child and ask which idea a reader would be least likely to guess.
Worked explanation 1
‘Found at the bottom of the box.’
‘Found at the bottom of the box.’
I lost my hat at school. I looked in the box at the office and I found it at the bottom. I was happy and I took it home.
The box outside the office has been at our school longer than any of the teachers. At the very bottom, under forty-three odd socks, I found a faded hat with a name tag: 'Grace Ellis, Year 5'. Grace Ellis is my mum.
The first version is the most expected idea: lose something, find it, the end. The second uses the same box but finds a fresh angle, a link to Mum's own school days, which raises questions the reader wants answered. Markers reward ideas that are interesting and still clearly about the prompt.
Worked explanation 2
‘A different view.’
‘A different view.’
I climbed to the top of a hill and the view was really different. I could see houses, trees and cars. It was very beautiful and I felt happy.
From the top of the hill, my street looks like a sentence, and our house is the full stop at the end. I can see Mrs Bui's lemon tree, the gap in the fence where Jarrah's dog escapes, and the roof I live under. From up here, our arguments about whose turn it is to walk the dog look very small.
Both versions read 'a different view' as a view from a hill. The first stops at a list of what was seen. The second turns the view into an idea: seeing home from above changes how the writer feels about it. That double meaning, a new view and a new point of view, is the freshness markers reward.
Worked explanation 3
‘What we leave behind.’
‘What we leave behind.’
We should not leave rubbish behind at the beach because it is bad for the environment. Animals can eat it and get sick. Everyone should take their rubbish home.
Footprints, a sandcastle, a forgotten bucket: the beach keeps everything for one tide, then washes it away. But some things the sea can't wash away. A bottle cap someone dropped years ago might still be out there, travelling. I wonder which of the things we leave behind will stay, and which ones will matter.
The first version is the expected idea, stated like a poster. The second still talks about rubbish, but sets it beside things the tide does wash away, which makes the reader think harder about what 'leaving behind' means. Moving from an obvious message to a layered one is the kind of complex, fresh idea markers look for.
How should my child approach it?
Come up with several ideas, then keep the one a reader wouldn't predict, because that's where the handbook's marking starts. Its criteria open with relevance to the prompt; complex, fresh and interesting ideas; style and form that lift the ideas; and a strong plot, message, issue or information. How the piece is written comes after.
Fresh isn't the same as odd, and the link to the prompt still has to be clear. The steps are our method, with the handbook's own advice inside them.
Jot several ideas fast
Spend the first moments listing a few ways into the prompt. The handbook suggests building ideas through setting and character, a concept, or a viewpoint.
Pass over the first one
The first idea may be the one other children have too. The handbook says to consider not going with the first idea that comes to mind.
Look for a second meaning
Ask what else the words could mean. A view can be a sight or a point of view, as in our second example.
Add one surprising detail
A small, specific detail can turn an ordinary event into an idea, like the name tag on the hat in our first example.
Check the link to the prompt
If the piece would still work with the prompt deleted, the idea has drifted.
The slip to check for is stopping at an idea that is complete but expected. Read your child's plan and ask what would surprise a reader; if the honest answer is nothing, look for it below.
The expected story. Lose a hat, find it, go home: the first version of our box example is complete but holds no surprise.
A list instead of an idea. Listing what you can see from a hill describes a view but says nothing about it.
A poster message. "Take your rubbish home" is true, but stated flatly it gives the reader nothing new to think about.
How can we practise it at home?
Three examples show how a plain idea becomes a fresh one. Practice test 1 shows whether your child can find one alone, on a prompt they've never seen, with 25 minutes to write. It's free and includes the writing test.
In the real test, writing follows straight on from Reading Comprehension. So practise finding ideas quickly, in short rounds that cost nothing:
The handbook's first step is to spend two minutes jotting down ideas from a picture or an interesting line.
Then do it again with a different prompt and compare the ideas.
Over dinner, take turns giving a prompt a second meaning.
Keep a notebook of odd details your child notices: a name on a bench, a sign with a missing letter.
