From a joyful car ride with Mum, to the story of Australia’s colonisation, the theme of ‘journeys’ loomed large in the imaginations of our Year 3–4 poets.
Congratulations to Mia Healey (Strathcona Girls Grammar School), Claerwen Watkins (Geelong Grammar), Naushali Navaratne (Harkaway Hills College), Mateusz Stankiewicz (Plenty Valley Christian College) and all of those who received honourable mentions.
The competition, part of the Arts Learning Festival, was open to students from all school sectors, and attracted almost 600 entries.
Mia Healey, Strathcona Girls Grammar School
she pads
searching for food
her cubs are waiting
mother knows they are hungry
someone’s watching
the fox slips away, snuffling around
the sense of urgency drives her
flash
a beam of light hits her
announcing her presence
she’s gone
we watch her from the car
warm and snug
I feel a pang of sympathy
she’s a predator yet she is vulnerable
out there amongst the moonlit buildings
our lives are so different
my life is comparatively easy
I don’t even contemplate the whereabouts of my next meal
yet she fights
every day
for her family’s survival
Claerwen Watkins, Geelong Grammar School
As flame-coloured leaves fall
As grey clouds seethe in the sky
As the weather coldens from summer heat
Autumn is come.
As the country turns away from the sun
As the breezes whip through the emptying branches
As the dampening air presses against you
Autumn is come.
As the whistling of wedge-tailed eagles grows louder
As the musty smell of rotting leaves wades up your nose and mouth
As mountains of once red-gold, now cold dull brown leaves, form
Autumn is come.
As steps are muffled by leafy ground
As flames flicker at the bottom of chimneys
As scarves are wrapped around necks
Autumn is come.
Mateusz Stankiewicz, Plenty Valley Christian College
Naushali Navaratne, Harkaway Hills College
- Renae G Abraham, Chairo Christian School – ‘The Best Journey of All’
- Xavier Balog, Cornish College – ‘Australia’
- Karla Barker, Cornish College – ‘No Invite’
- Domitile Bizeau, Hawthorn West Primary School – ‘I am not, But I am’
- Ava Cusack, Cornish College – ‘Friends’
- Sarah Damasiewicz, Presbyterian Ladies’ College – ‘A Journey of Life’
- Hugo Davies, Cornish College – ‘What to Write?’
- Emma Eagleton, Chairo Christian School – ‘My Journey’
- Xavier Eltman, Lysterfield Lake College – ‘A Journey of a Turtle’s Life’
- Marwa Hasan Bavazeer, Al-Taqwa College – ‘Kinder to Foundation’
- Ellie Hoffman, Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School – ‘Full of Adventure’
- Oskar Holmes, Hawthorn West Primary School – ‘The black cloud’
- Benny Kluge, Cornish College – ‘Sea Turtle Journey’
- Emerson Oh, Fitzroy Community School – ‘Where the Mind Takes You’
- Clare Perera, Harkaway Hills College – ‘The Beach’
- Isaac Poh, Lysterfield Lake College – ‘The Cursed Mansion’
- Aurelia Poon, Camberwell Girls Grammar School – ‘Journeys’
- Madeleine Rowse-Wells, St. Leonard’s College – ‘The switching of schools’
- Josephine Sekula, Hawthorn West Primary School – ‘Earth’
- Antonio Stamatis, Penleigh & Essendon Grammar School – ‘My Dad’s Valiant’
- Audrey Versteeg, Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School – ‘Journey’
- Damian Vithoulkas, Jindivick Primary School – ‘Journey through an Ocean’
- Poppy Wainrit, The King David School – ‘The Journey of Abraham Lincoln’
- Hugh Wiedermann, Cornish College – ‘Emperor Penguin Journey’
- Chloe Yang, Shelford Girls’ Grammar – ‘Journey’
