Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards (BOSTES) President, Tom Alegounarias announced today the 2015 Gold award winners of the BOSTES annual youngest writer competition – WriteOn.

WriteOn is for NSW students in Years 1 to 6 and aims to encourage students to develop their creative writing skills.

To enter, students are required to write a short piece of up to 500 words on a photograph selected by BOSTES – this year an old flying machine at the beach.

This year nearly 400 entries were received with a panel of primary school teachers selecting 18 Gold, 18 Silver and 18 Bronze award winners chosen from each stage.

“Initiatives like WriteOn are a great way to develop a life-long love of writing, a skill that has so many applications throughout life.

“As these young writers progress through school, I trust and hope they will keep writing – it is an important skill, and great writing provides great enjoyment,” Mr Alegounarias said.

The Gold award winners recognised at a special event hosted by the State Library of NSW were:

• Callum Macgown - Knox Grammar Preparatory
• Samuel Jarrett - Emmanuel Anglican College
• Sophie Ryan - Castle Cove Public School
• Yash Goel - Castle Hill Public School
• Alexander Patterson - St Joan of Arc Catholic School
• Emmanouel Voudouris - Redeemer Baptist School
• Jemima Woodman - International Grammar School
• Katie Smith - Sacred Heart Primary School Mosman
• Annabel Wu - Bald Face Public School
• Eva Jacobson - Kincoppal Rose Bay Junior School
• Charlie Carroll - Oxford Falls Grammar
• Audrey Lin - Glenorie Public School
• Eloise Cliff - Lakes Grammar - An Anglican School
• Jasmine Wilks - Ravenswood School for Girls
• Dylan Huynh - Inaburra School
• Ming Lee - Ultimo Public School
• Lilian Geddes-Korb - St James Catholic Primary School
• Megan Yap - Australian International School, Malaysia

“The outstanding entries are published in the annual BOSTES WriteOn anthology which is a fantastic opportunity for any young author.

“I would like to congratulate these talented young writers who have benefited from great teachers with classroom content grounded in our quality NSW syllabuses and the support of their parents,” Mr Alegounarias said.

For more information visit WriteOn – Award recipients.