TWC’s Take on the 2026 PSLE English Composition Topic

The topic for 2026's PSLE Continuous Writing component was 'A Good Way to Spend Time', with picture prompts similar to those shown below:

At first glance, this may seem to be a simple and approachable topic. Every student has personal experiences doing something they enjoy, so ideas should come easily... right?

While this is true, a challenge with such a topic lies precisely in the fact that it's straightforward and positive. Such topics tend to produce flat stories that read like a diary entry, without a strong plot which would have allowed students to better present their content and language abilities.

At The Write Connection, we teach students about the importance of planning to avoid this pitfall.

Picture the story as a mountain:

At the climax of the mountain, there should be a problem (or something otherwise exciting!) occurring. With this structure, students will have a much easier time writing a meaningful story, with purposeful events showcasing a range of emotions that their characters go through.

With seemingly-positive topics like this year's, students often find themselves stuck at the ideation stage. We can start by brainstorming a problem or key event related to the topic and a chosen picture. Let's consider the pictures provided: a picnic, books, and a no-phone prompt. Which pictures would be more strategic and easier to write about?

For most students, it would be the picture of a picnic, or the no-phone prompt. The former establishes a clear location and activity that can be easily disrupted, while the latter is something many students would find relatable and intuitive to brainstorm conflicts around.

Here's what the storylines could look like!

Picture Chosen: A Picnic

Picture Chosen: No-Phone Prompt

Both storylines emphasise on the topic and picture meaningfully, incorporating a clear problem that easily allows students to show, not tell, a wide range of emotions of their characters throughout the story as events unfold.

The story mountain planning approach is one of the tools we equip our students with through workshops and regular practice in TWC lessons. With their storyline in place, students then learn to bring their characters and emotions to life through show, not tell, applying frameworks such as FATS taught at TWC. Rather than relying on rote memorisation, we focus on skills and strategies that students can apply across different topics, encouraging them to become adaptable thinkers and writers with an authentic voice of their own.

If you're looking to strengthen your child's writing skills, come speak with us to find out more! It's also a good time to join our K2-Sec 4 programmes, as our Early Bird Promotion is currently running with savings of up to $380 off 2027 classes!

Register your interest here, and our friendly centre team will be in touch with you.

These expert tips were brought to you by our Curriculum and Teaching Service Quality Teams.