Presenter - Jen McVeity
The Seven Steps to Writing Success program was created by Jen McVeity, melding her expertise as an author, a classroom teacher and her passion for education.
While working with young writers, she discovered that too many kept making similar writing errors over and over again. She set out to track the most frequent errors. There were seven of them.
For over two years, she used her author training and writing skills to experiment with ways to cure the main problems. The Seven Steps program began when she discovered the 'chunking' method. Breaking down writing into the seven simple stages meant children were suddenly able to discover how easy – and enjoyable – writing can be!
National Test data across the country have proved the Seven Steps to be a simple but radically effective program. The program is now in over 1/3 of all Australian schools.
Smart, spirited and successful, Jen McVeity is an international author and in high demand as a speaker throughout Australia, Asia and America.
She's also an extreme sports addict who plays Men's beach volleyball, hikes the Grand Canyon and performs on a circus trapeze!
Author
The creator of over 20 books for children, (and a quarter of a million words of journalism) Jen's novel Dreamcatcher is a popular Year 7/8 text in Australian schools. It won the Family Award, the Environment Award and it also got the award for the most stolen book in Hawaii's state library!
2003-6 Board Chair of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators
The SCBWI is one of the largest writing organisations in the world with over 20,000 members in 18 countries. Board members include Judy Blume, Tomie de Paola, Bruce Coville and the USA editor of Harry Potter, Arthur Levine.
National Literacy Champion
2006 Australian National Literacy Champion.
Churchill Fellow
Awarded the highly prestigious Churchill Fellow, Jen travelled to the USA for two months and showcased the books of over 40 authors to USA publishers. The result was five publishing contracts offered to Australian authors. www.churchilltrust.com.au
Extreme Sports
She's also mad! Jen has jumped off cliffs, out of airplanes, and performs ten metres high on a circus trapeze - for fun. She's hiked the Grand Canyon, worked as a ski instructor in Austria and plays AA-grade MEN'S beach volleyball. See Jen's extreme sports photos.
International Keynote Speaker
Jen has spoken in five countries and 11 USA states including California, Texas, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Florida and Hawaii. She insists ALL of her audiences have so far survived! Do ask us about Jen speaking at your conference. Contact Us
Media
A veteran of radio and print interviews, Jen is available for media comment.