On Friday last week we held our 'Share and Celebrate' event for our second annual poetry competition, and it was fabulous to see ākonga sharing their amazing poetry.

The competition began last year as a way for students from both local schools, Churton Park School and Amesbury School, to share their poetry and connect with other tamariki who also enjoy writing. The competition is open to all ākonga from year 1 to year 6, and is organised in three categories: year 1 and 2; year 3 and 4; and year 5 and 6. Students can write any form of poetry they wish to, about any topic. 

Our wonderful judge, Elaine Bickell, was delighted with the amazing range of poetry sent in by ngā tamariki. Elaine is a local children's author, and has written the children's books 'The Little Ghost Who Lost Her Boo', 'The Little Witch Who Lost Her Broom' and 'Starfish the Star'. Elaine very generously gave her time and expertise to be our poetry judge, and she had a really hard time making her decisions. 

The winners of our 2023 poetry competition are:

Year 1 + 2:1st place = Amaira 

Year 3 + 4: 1st place = Sueli; 2nd place = Cassidy; 3rd place = Zara.

Year 5 + 6: 1st place = Leah; 2nd place = Anna; 3rd place = Jhaedyn. 

The place getters shared their poems with the group, and read them beautifully. We are very proud of all students who entered their writing into the competition, and huge thanks to all parents, whānau and kaiako who encouraged our tamariki to share their writing with the poetry team. 

Huge thanks for the Churton Park Community Association for sponsoring our prizes for the competition. All place getters received a $20 Whitcoulls voucher thanks for the CPCA sponsorship. And of course, special thanks to Elaine Bickell, for being our fabulous celebrity judge. We look forward to having Elaine visit our school next year to share her wonderful books with us. 

We look forward to the competition returning next year, so please encourage ngā tamariki to keep writing!

Ngā mihi, 

the Poetry team