This article outlines how home and school working together supported the writing of lower-achieving boys. It describes an activity in which parents and children selected artefacts at home to inspire writing in school. This model of home-school partnership permitted different levels of parental involvement and also allowed the child to take a key role in the process. The activity made a positive impact on the writing of low-achieving boys in terms of the amount and quality of writing produced and also in relation to confidence and motivation to write. Oracy played an important part in the process. Parents gave support through talk in the home and children orally presented their artefacts and discussed how they planned to write about them in school. The importance of the teacher in supporting the writing process through talk is also discussed.