Dorothea Mackellar poetry award winners congratulated
04 Sep 2015
Media release Minister for Education and Training, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, has congratulated the winners of the 2015 Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards, from schools right across Australia.
“These awards, named after one of Australia’s best-loved poets – Dorothea Mackellar – offer students of all ages from schools throughout Australia an opportunity to explore and engage with poetry,” Mr Pyne said.
“I would like to congratulate all nine winners of the 31st Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards, including Aryanne Caminschi from St Mary's Anglican Girls' School (Karrinyup, WA) whose poem Riverstone was the winner in the senior secondary category, and Lucia Gelonesi from SCEGGS (Darlinghurst, NSW) whose poem Meeting Helen Keller was the winner in the upper primary category.
“My congratulations also go to St Stephen’s Primary School (Tapping, WA), for winning The Sheelah Baxter Award for Primary Schools, and to Cammeraygal High School (Crows Nest, NSW) for receiving the Secondary Schools’ Award.
“These awards are an important part of National Literacy and Numeracy Week and each year attract thousands of entries.
“This year nearly ten thousand entries were received from 655 schools throughout Australia, which shows a wonderful level of interest in poetry.
“The awards are open to students from Foundation to Year 12 and encourage students to explore their creativity through poetry, as inspired by one of Australia’s great poets.”
“I congratulate the Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society, led by Jenny Farquhar, for their passion and hard work in ensuring the success of the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards.”
The Australian Government provided $50,000 to the Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society to support the awards in 2015.
National Literacy and Numeracy Week is part of the Australian Government’s Students First approach, focussing on four key areas that will make a difference to students:
- teacher quality
- school autonomy
- parental engagement
- strengthening the curriculum.
For further information about National Literacy and Numeracy Week, visit www.literacyandnumeracy.gov.au.
For more information on the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards, including a list of winners, see www.dorothea.com.au.