From the English Coordinator

Our Poets and Writers Reach Out and Shine!

The last few weeks have seen some of SAC’s rising poets and writers acknowledged for their skills and insights.

Neville Stapleton Award & SAC Primary Poetry Awards

During Term 1 and 2, students from Years R-12 were invited to submit entries to the SAC Poetry Competition. This year’s theme was ‘Reaching Out’. Our students took this theme in many creative directions, with many writing about how important it is to reach out to each other, or about important people in their lives who have made it their mission to always reach out. It was a pleasure to read all of the wonderful poetry submissions! A big thank you to all of the students who were brave enough to put something of themselves on the page and then submit it to the competition.

The middle and senior school Poetry awards are called the Neville Stapleton Poetry Awards. These are awarded in honour of the late Neville Stapleton, who was a much-loved English teacher here at SAC for many years, and then later worked here as an archivist. Neville’s family are the caretakers and judges of the Neville Stapleton award. Our winners were pleased to be able to meet Wishy, Neville’s granddaughter, to talk about their poetry and writing.

Congratulations to Yenuli (12KS) and Alina (9JB) who were the winners of the Senior and Middle School Neville Stapleton awards. Yenuli’s poem, ‘My Giant Eucalyptus’ impressed with a strong central metaphor used to explore strength, family, vulnerability and connection. Alina’s poem ‘Silent Resonance’ was beautifully formed and resolved, a reflection about trying to reach out across time to reconnect with a memory. Well done as well to Mahsa (10NR) and Kristen (9JB) who were the runners up.

Yelinsa (4CE) and Yasvi (2OH) were the SAC Primary and Junior Primary Poetry Award winners, with Eden (6SD) and Scout (2KR) as runners up. Yelinsa’s poem ‘A Mother’s Love Never Ends’ was a vivid account of an interaction between a baby whale calf and a pod of dolphins. Yasvi’s poem ‘Reaching Out’ used the metaphor of “making a cloudy day sunny” to represent how we can have a positive effect on those around us.

Our thanks to the Stapleton family and the members of the English faculty who formed the preliminary judging panels, and thanks again to all of the poets who entered. We look forward to seeing more of your wonderful writing in years to come!

Neville Stapleton Poetry Award: Senior

Winner: Yenuli (12KS)- ‘My Giant Eucalyptus’
Runner up: Mahsa (10NR)- ‘The Hope Beyond Whispers’

Neville Stapleton Poetry Award: Middle

Winner: Alina (9JB)- ‘Silent Resonance’
Runner Up: Kristen (9JB)- ‘The Jade Bracelet’

SAC Primary Poetry Award

Winner: Yelinsa (4CE)- ‘A Mother’s Love Never Ends’
Runner Up: Eden (6SD)- ‘For All We’ve Taken, For All We’ve Lost’

SAC Junior Primary Poetry Award

Winner: Yasvi (2OH)- ‘Reaching Out’
Runner Up: Scout (2KR)- ‘Reaching Out’

Neville Stapleton Poetry Awards winners with Ms Amy Klar and Wishy, Neville’s granddaughter.

SAETA Young Writer’s Award

I’m excited to share that two of our students have been awarded prizes in the South Australian English Teacher’s Association (SAETA) Young Writer’s Awards! Year 7 student Celeste was the winner in the prose category for Year 7-8. Her winning short story Finding My Home was a thoughtful account focused on the experiences of refugees. Year 6 student Aanya won 2^nd place in the Year 4-6 Poetry category for her poem The Dream, a poem filled with vivid imagery of space and galaxies.

Celeste and Aanya received their awards at the SAETA Young Writer’s Award Launch ceremony, held at Adelaide University (Magill). They were each presented with a copy of a special edition of SAETA’s Opinion Journal, in which their winning pieces have been published.

Well done as well to Mila (9KL) and Chloe (8AM) who were shortlisted for the awards. Mila, Chloe and Celeste have all been invited to a special Student Writing Mentoring Workshop where they can work on their writing craft with other shortlisted students from around the state.

This is a fantastic achievement by these students. Congratulations!

Ms Amy Klar
English Coordinator

From the English Coordinator