Chief Executive of the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) Paul Martin has awarded recipients from across New South Wales schools in this year’s WriteOn competition for outstanding writing by Primary School students.
Year 2 student, Daniel Lumsden-Smee, was awarded Gold in the prestigious writing competition for his thrilling story about an unusual, and possibly dangerous, friendship. Arielle Reid in Year 6 was awarded Silver for her vivid story about the memories that haunt us.
“Congratulations to our youngest writers and creators, who crafted stories with the support of their teachers. This year 50 students across the state have taken home a bronze, silver or gold award. We received almost 600 entries this year from over 310 schools and home-schooling students in NSW, making it the most successful year to date,” Mr Martin said.
WriteOn gives students the opportunity to show teachers how they think and interpret the world around them. Teachers can incorporate the competition into their lesson plans as part of the English Kindergarten to Year 6 syllabus.
With an image of a young boy on a bike in the middle of an outback road as the stimulus, students impressed their teachers and the judges, with their imagination and writing abilities creating a range of imaginative texts including narratives, diary entries, interviews, letters and poems.
Students wrote about their experience of the NSW drought, others about their experience of COVID-19, bushfires, friendship and family, and one about the importance of following the road on life’s journey as we grow old.
“We know skills in writing are vital to success, both in school and in life, but it is also important that we nurture the abilities of young people to create, think independently and question,” Mr Martin said.
The 18 Gold Award recipients’ entries have been published alongside the works of the 32 other students who received Silver and Bronze Awards in The Best of WriteOn 2021.