This week you'll write a reflective piece about a time you changed your mind — not because someone argued you into it, but because something you saw or lived through made you rethink. Read the sample below, then answer the questions. Notice how the student writes honestly about both belief and shift.
Part 1
The Assessor Scorecard for
Reflective – Reflective piece
Markers look for reflective writing that thinks carefully about an experience while staying honest about what you felt and believed. Check each strand below to see what strong work looks like.
Ideas & Content
A clear point — something you realised or now understand.
Movement beyond what happened into why it mattered.
Specific details that make your thinking visible to the reader.
More than a summary of events — the meaning underneath them.
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Focus: on what shifted your thinking, not just what changed.
Structure & Cohesion
A path through time — old belief, doubt, the shift, what you see now.
Transitions like 'then', 'but', 'at that moment' linking each stage.
A reader who can follow the journey of your thinking.
One idea leading clearly into the next.
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Movement: from settled belief through doubt to new understanding.
Audience & Purpose
Honest writing about uncertainty, not just tidy conclusions.
No defence of your old self or your new self.
The real process of change shown on the page.
A reader invited into how you actually think.
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Honesty: about uncertainty and confusion, not just conclusions.
Language Choices
Specific, concrete words — show the feeling, don't label it.
Precise verbs and clear images over general terms.
No clichés like 'it changed my life' or 'I learned a lesson'.
Your actual experience speaking through real detail.
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Precision: in verbs, adjectives and sensory detail, not generalisations.
Conventions
Correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar throughout.
Use of 'I' is fine and correct in reflective writing.
Sentences that flow without running ideas together.
Clarity that keeps your reader with you across the piece.
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Clarity: in sentences and spelling so your reflection is easy to follow.
Part 2
Today’s Marking Targets
Task in one sentence
Write a 270-330 word reflective piece about a time you changed your mind, showing the old belief and what it felt like to let it go.
Let’s Focus
Two strands matter most this week: Ideas & Content and Language Choices. You need the old belief to feel real, so the shift carries weight. You also need honest, precise words — not a tidy lesson — to show thinking as it actually happens.
Ideas & Content
Strong writing this week names the old belief clearly, then describes a specific moment that made you rethink. The sample student writes about friendship breakups — they show the old belief, the slow shift, and a moment of real confusion. No neat answer at the end.
What markers scan for
- A clear old belief you held firmly.
- A specific moment or experience that made you rethink.
- Reflection on what the shift felt like, not just what changed.
- Honest uncertainty in place of a tidy lesson.
Score Bands
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Basic
States a belief and a change, but reasoning is unclear or stays on the surface.
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Strong
Shows a clearly held belief, a specific reason for change, and reflection on what the shift meant.
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Excellent
Belief is vivid and specific; the moment of change is concrete; reflection includes honest uncertainty or complexity.
Language Choices
Strong writing this week uses everyday words with care. 'I felt caught between two people I cared about' beats 'I felt bad'. Verbs do real work — 'insisted', 'noticed', 'realised'. The piece stays in the concrete moment and steers clear of clichés.
What markers scan for
- Specific, precise verbs and adjectives.
- Language that shows feeling rather than naming it.
- Concrete moments instead of general statements.
- No clichés or vague emotional phrases.
Score Bands
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Basic
Language is general or vague; leans on clichés like 'I learned my lesson'.
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Strong
Mostly specific language; some concrete detail; verbs chosen with care; few clichés.
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Excellent
Consistently precise language; vivid sensory or emotional detail; strong verbs; no clichés.
Now read · Student sample
When I Changed My Mind
Year 7 sample · \~200 words
Student sample for assessment
Written by a Year 7 student in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.
I used to think that if a friendship ended, someone had done something wrong. Broken friendships meant betrayal — a deliberate choice to hurt someone. My best friend and I were inseparable, so I was certain that would never happen to us. I did not think about it deeply. I just knew it was true. Then last year, she moved to another school. We promised to stay close. For a few months we did, meeting up, messaging constantly. Then gradually — so slowly I did not notice it happening — the messages became less frequent. We would plan to meet and one of us would cancel. It was not that she had done something wrong. It was not that I had. We just got busy. She made new friends. I made new friends. The friendship did not end because someone betrayed the other. It ended because we were no longer in each other's everyday lives. I remember the day I realised it was over. I was thinking about texting her, and I thought: we do not really know each other anymore. That hurt more than I expected. I felt caught between two versions of myself — the person who had believed broken friendships were about blame, and the person who could now see that sometimes friendships just change. Neither of us had done anything wrong. That was somehow harder to accept than betrayal would have been.
