The first novel your child brings home from Year 7 English might come with a reading schedule tucked inside the cover, or a page of questions about the opening chapters. Many of those questions are less about what happens and more about what your child thinks of a character, and what in the book makes them think it. You don't need to have read the book to help, and a paragraph like the one below shows what their answers are working towards.
What teachers look for in Year 7 writing
One Year 7 writing task might ask your child to explain a view of a book and support it with details. Victoria's curriculum describes what students can do by the end of each level in its achievement standard. The invented paragraph below has four parts of the Year 7 standard marked on it, so you can see what teachers look for.
One Year 7 paragraph about a novel, marked against the standard
Numbers connect each sentence to its purpose.
1Jamie is braver than he first seems. 2At the start of the novel he hides from the storm, but in the last chapter he rows out alone to find his sister, thinking, “My hands shook, but I kept rowing.” 3The short line draws attention to Jamie’s decision to keep going. 4This suggests that being brave doesn’t mean having no fear.
- 1
Opinion
- 2
Evidence
- 3
Writer’s choice
- 4
Link back
The achievement standard behind the example
- “They develop opinions about texts…”
- “They select textual details from texts appropriate for purpose…”
- “They explain how literary devices create meaning…”
- “They use text structures that build sequence and cohesion in a text…”
When a marked piece comes home, you can read the teacher's comment together and ask your child which sentence it's about. A comment like “use more evidence” is about the second part, and “explain how” about the third. Talking it through can help your child see what to change next time, and you may see which part they find hardest.
What your child will learn in Year 7 English
The Victorian Curriculum, set by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), describes what students learn in English at each level, and Level 7 is the one written for Year 7. Your child will learn how English works, discuss literature and practise reading, writing and speaking, all taught together.
Across the year they will read, watch, discuss and write about a mix of texts. The curriculum's examples include novels, poetry, film, plays, non-fiction and media and online texts, with literature by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors, Australian and world authors, and texts from and about Asia. The curriculum doesn't set a list of books, so their school chooses the texts and the order they come in.
Some of what Year 7 asks may be new. Your child will be asked to give a structured talk to the class in more formal language. They will practise reading strategies such as predicting, summarising and inferring, which means working out what a text suggests without saying it outright. They will also review and edit their own writing and their classmates', then reflect on what they changed and why.
Talking about the book at home
The book your child studies in class can start a conversation about English, because your child is the one who knows it. It can be a passing question at dinner or in the car rather than a quiz. You might ask who they like most so far and what that character did to earn it, or what they think will happen next.
You can listen for whether your child gives a view or mostly retells the plot, and whether they can point to a moment in the book that shows what they mean. These skills develop through practice, so a pattern over a few weeks, such as avoiding the class reading altogether, tells you more than one conversation.
If reading or writing stays hard
If something keeps coming up, like a class book your child won't open or the same comment on every piece of writing, you can raise it with their English teacher through the school's usual channel and say what you've noticed at home. You could ask:
- Which texts will the class study in 2027, and is there a reading schedule we can follow at home?
- How is writing marked, and could we see the criteria for the next task?
- Which part of my child's writing would be most worth working on right now?
- How much reading should my child be doing outside class, and does it need to be the class book?
You can also ask whether the school runs reading or writing support for Year 7 students and how a child is offered a place. The school library is free too, and its staff can suggest books at the right level for a reluctant reader or one who has run out of things to read.
One-to-one tutoring is another option. Our Years 7 to 10 English tutors work from the texts, tasks and feedback your child receives at school, at home or online, and can help with each part of the writing process, from understanding the text to planning, drafting and refining a response.
A teacher's comment on one piece of writing can give you a specific place to start.
Other questions about Year 7 English
What changes in Year 8 English?
Year 8 builds on the same skills, with more discussion of different readings of a text and more complex writing, as the Level 8 curriculum sets out.
When is NAPLAN in 2027, and what does it test in English?
Year 7 NAPLAN runs in a window from 10 to 22 March 2027, and three of its four tests come from English: reading, writing and conventions of language, which covers spelling, grammar and punctuation. In the writing test, students respond to a prompt with a story or a persuasive piece. ACARA, which runs NAPLAN, says the best preparation is teaching the curriculum, which is what your child's English class is already doing. Our guide to Year 7 NAPLAN explains what the tests look like and how to read the report.
Should my child read over the summer before Year 7?
Anything your child enjoys reading is fine, and there's no need to get ahead on the Year 7 texts. You can check the school's welcome information in case a book has been set for Term 1.
What if English isn't my child's first language?
You can ask the school what support it offers students learning English as an additional language, often shortened to EAL, and whether your child could take part.
What else can help with starting Year 7?
Our Year 7 transition checklist takes you through the rest of the move step by step.
Where to check the details
We checked these official sources on 6 November 2026.
