Every year, students in Year 12 are offered the opportunity to compete in the May Campbell Anderson Competition by completing an additional English exam. This is one of our department’s most prestigious awards and this year’s winner is Kate Gardiner with runner-up, Emily Koller.

The competition challenges students to read a diverse range of critically acclaimed works and answer, in essay form, questions linked to the texts. This year’s selection included Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, which we were lucky enough to see in performance at The Court Theatre. Other texts included Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle and short text collections by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Glenn Colquhoun.

The standard of all the entries was exceptionally high and each candidate brought their own style and perspective to the range of topics. Kate’s essays were thoughtful and mature, demonstrating clear engagement with the content and an insightful understanding of the context, authors and overall purpose.

Congratulations to all those who took part – your understanding of the material and commitment during a challenging year were outstanding and much appreciated.