Claire Sutherland, Chloe Page and Christina Wang swept us away with their fantastic stories. These talented Year 4s took out the top three places in our 2023 NZ-wide Student Writing Competition. This in itself was an uneasy feat, with hundreds of students competing from schools across the whole country.

Claire Sutherland from Makauri School placed 1st with her beautifully written story, The Colt’s Quest, which you can dive into right here! Claire received a stationery prize from PaperPlus Richmond as well as a brilliant novel kindly sponsored by Matakana Bookshop.

Chloe Page from Hautapu School placed 2nd with her magical story, Going to Elandia. We were able to meet Chloe at her school’s assembly prize giving to award her her highly deserved prize and chat about her story. You can read it here. Chloe received a stationery prize from PaperPlus Richmond as well as Tessa Duder’s novel, Jellybean.

Christina Wang from Wakaaranga School placed 3rd with her clever story Robber or Hero?, which you can read here! Christina received her very own voucher to visit the Museum of Technology and Transport (MOTAT) in Auckland!

All three students performed exceedingly well, and we hope they continue writing for years to come! Let’s celebrate Claire, Chloe and Christina!

Category judge: Suraya Dewing