When Luke Taylor switched careers to become a school teacher he saw a way to use the skills he'd developed during his 14 years as a detective to help his students with their writing.
The idea developed into an interactive workshop called Crime Story that Mr Taylor now takes to schools across New South Wales, using a crime scene scenario to teach students how to investigate, problem solve, and think creatively.
The concept is a hit with the Dubbo St Laurence Primary and Dunedoo St Michael's Catholic School students.
"This will help me … think outside the box, find lots of different things that I hadn't even thought of looking at before," said year six student Ellie.
Mr Taylor said a decline in his mental health a decade ago led him to quit being a police detective.
He restudied, rediscovered his passion for literature, and became an English teacher.
"I always say it — in some ways I went from the negativity industry to the positivity industry," Mr Taylor said.
Bridging the gap
Crime Story aims to focus on skills that can be used beyond school and bridge the gap that can sometimes form within classrooms.
"The kids who don't have a lot of background or contextual knowledge … will be so far behind others, and others will be naturally advantaged," Mr Taylor said.
"Here, everyone has a starting point and we just differentiate and accelerate each kid.
"So you can see what they're thinking, what they're trying to achieve. It's such an effective way of teaching."
Beginning with a thorough sift-through of the crime scene itself, students are asked to describe all their findings in as much detail as possible.
Sometimes it's an alley with gooey slime, other times it's a diner with suspicious missing animals.
"It's getting kids out of their seats, getting them hands-on," Mr Taylor said.
"And when we can break down those processes they don't even know they're writing, they don't realise that they're actually learning.
"They're so involved and so engaged because they're trying to solve a crime."
Ellie says it's nothing like she's experienced before.
"I thought it was just a writing workshop but it's so much more than that. It's so cool," she said.
"We've got these clipboards, and we've got to make observations and if you really look hard enough, you can find some crazy stuff."
Creating opportunities for country kids
Mr Taylor and his wife Brenda aim to close the gap that exists between country and city students.
Coming from a regional teaching background, Mr Taylor wanted to ensure Crime Story was accessible.
"It would cost me thousands of dollars just to take a couple of kids to Sydney, and they'd miss a couple of days of school," he said.
"My entire budget would be blown on basically one activity.
"Nobody would come and visit, nobody from the city, no resources made themselves available, and we were just missing out on so much.
"I found that a lot of the education system is city-centric.
"We want to make sure they [country kids] have the same opportunities."