During term 1, the Singleton Writers Group announced a youth writing competition for all budding writers in the area. The competition was open to all young people from the ages of 5 to 25. Divided into age categories, each writer was able to express their creativity and skills through producing a 500-word story on dreams.
The competition was advertised to all students at St Catherine’s who showed interest and put pen to paper where teachers submitted all entries directly to the Singleton Writers Group.
Over the holidays, the entries were judged by a panel who assessed each story to determine the final winners. There must have been an animal-lover on the judging panel, as two of our students explored the dreams of animals.
On returning to school for Term 2, School Principal, Mrs Maryanne Finder was informed that three students from St Catherine's had been chosen as the winners for their given category.
The three talented creative writers, Jonathan Davies, Grace Constable and Chelsea Jupp, were successful in their division coming home with prize money and certificates.
The winning students were also invited to attend a special ceremony at the Singleton Library on 6 May to meet with the Singleton Writer's Group in a ‘celebration of words’ and present their stories to the gathered crowd.
Jonathan's story was one in which he dreamed of a world without war and, typically for a 7-year-old, lots of Leggo. He presented his story beautifully, with colourful illustrations included.
Grace's story was from the perspective of a lonely dog, looking for its home. Her emotive language was quite impressive for a 12-year-old Year 7 student.
Chelsea too used an animal for inspiration. Her story was about a wolf, cold and mourning for its brother. Her natural description and the cyclical nature of her story displayed sophistication beyond her years.
As wonderful as this experience was for the students of St Catherine's, it was equally as special for the members of the Writer's Group. Their pleasure at listening to the stories and the sparkle in their eyes as the lyrical words washed over them, could not be hidden.
This wonderful exchange and celebration of words was definitely an initiative worth repeating next year.