Release information
- Topic
- Awards and events
- Learning Area
- Creative arts, English
- Stages
- Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2), Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4), Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6)
The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) today announced the 2020 WriteOn Gold Award recipients for outstanding writing by primary school students.
With an image of a young boy with his dog as stimulus, students impressed their teachers and the judges, with their imagination and writing abilities.
NESA Chief Executive Officer Paul Martin said that the work of these young students had evoked genuine joy, reflectiveness and laughter from the judges, who were tasked with the difficult job of awarding the honours.
“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.
“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,” Mr Martin said.
The competition received over 380 entries from schools across NSW, with four students from Years 1 & 2, five from Years 3 & 4, and six from Years 5 & 6 receiving WriteOn’s highest accolade, the Gold Award.
Students wrote poems, diary entries, stories and letters that related to the stimulus. One wrote about their experience of learning from home during the pandemic and how their dog helped get them through.
Other students came up with entertaining and fantastical adventures or wrote about their real-life and heartfelt reflections of their families.
“This competition encourages the development of imaginative writing skills among our young students. The Best of WriteOn Anthology provides a wonderful resource for teachers with its inspirational examples of students’ written works,” Mr Martin said.
The 15 Gold Award recipients’ entries will be published alongside the works of the 26 other students who received Silver and Bronze Awards, in The Best of WriteOn 2020.