15th Annual Anzac Writing Competition

Primary and secondary school students have honoured our ANZACs with another huge response to an annual writing competition organised by the Member for Riverina, Michael McCormack.

There were more than 680 entries from 23 schools submitted for this year’s competition.

This year’s theme was “ANZACs: Heroes all”.

“Many entries displayed a deep empathy for what our heroic ANZACs endured during their service to our nation, and not just World War I ANZACs, but also for veterans from subsequent conflicts and peace-keeping operations as well as their families and even war animals, such as horses and dogs,” Mr McCormack said.

“The high quality of writing came from not just study, but also from the heart.”

Mr McCormack thanked all students for their entries as well as their families, teachers and school administrative staff.

“Without their support the competition would not be possible,” Mr McCormack said. “I thank you all for your support and, should I be fortunate enough to be re-elected, I look forward to receiving entries next year from students in the Snowy Valleys, Yass Valley and Upper Lachlan Council areas, as well as from students in Boorowa when they all come into the electorate.”

Every student who submitted an entry will receive a personally-signed participation certificate featuring a watermark of the front cover of this year’s annual ANZAC Day commemorative booklet which will arrive in letterboxes across the electorate in the coming weeks.

Entries were put into Primary and Secondary categories and divided into North, South, East and West divisions.

Each of the 16 winning and highly commended entries have been published in the 36-page booklet, which also contains fascinating articles about ordinary residents who went to war and often performed extraordinary deeds.

These 16 students will also receive a book prize from the Australian War Memorial.

The booklet also contains all the ANZAC Day service times from locations across the Riverina, Snowy Mountains, South West Slopes and Southern Tablelands.

Primary schools winning book prize recipients

North: Evelyn Tait, 10, Year 4, St Anne’s Catholic College, Temora

South: Alfie Robson, 11, Year 6, Sturt Public School

East: Lily-Rose Mooney, 11, Year 6, Gundagai Public School

West: Grace Kelly, 12, Year 6, St Brendan’s Primary School, Ganmain

Primary schools highly commended book prize recipients

North: Madison McCormack, 11, Year 6, St Anne’s Catholic College, Temora

South: Lucy Lloyd, 12, Year 6 Henschke Primary School, Wagga Wagga

East: Holden Pearsall, 10, Year 5, Murrumburrah Public School

West: Noah Burns, 7, Year 2, Matong Public School

Secondary schools winning book prize recipients

North: Cohan Howden, 16, Year 11, St Raphael’s Catholic School, Cowra