Nina Delves of the St Mary’s R.C Primary school outshone nine other Grade 6 competitors in the 2023 Writing competition to take the title and winner’s trophy.

Amira Harry of Windsor Primary School placed second, and Kalicia Rodgers of Petersville Primary School was third.
Students, teachers and officials of the Ministry of Education gathered at Frenches House on Wednesday January, 31 for the closing ceremony and announcement of the winners.

The competition was organised by the Ministry of Education and Hodder Education and saw entries from a total of 52 schools, an increase of 13 from last year, however only 10 schools advanced to the finals.

The finalist wrote their pieces on Wednesday morning at the conference room of the Curriculum Development Unit, with the winners being announced in the afternoon at the closing ceremony.

The ten finalists were:

Faith Hutchinson – Stephanie Browne Primary School
Javid Harry – Fitz-Hughes Government School
Amira Harry – Windsor Primary School
Dakota Tucker – Westwood Methodist School
Hadassah Ollivierre – Lower Bay Inc
Chase Franklyn – Belair Government School
Hazel Clarke – Georgetown Government School
Kalicia Rodgers – Petersville Primary School
Quizron Williams – Dickson Methodist School

Nina Delves – St. Mary’s Roman Catholic School.

The competition comprised the genres of narrative, descriptive, persuasive and expository writing. From the preliminary round, Javid Harry of the Fitz-Hughes Government School along with Dakota Tucker of Westwood Methodist School won the best in expository.

Faith Hutchinson of the Stephanie Browne Primary School was best in narrative writing, while Hadassah Ollivierre of Lower Bay Inc tied with Amira Harry of Windsor Primary School for having the best descriptive pieces. As part of the ceremony,

the students got the opportunity to read their winning pieces.

Addressing the gathering senior education officer in the Curriculum Development Unit, Aldia Gumbs-Dyer encouraged the students to use their writing skills for good and not for slander in the media, underscoring that ‘A pen is sharper than the sword’.

Sales and marketing executive of Hodder Education, Byron Wilson expressed pleasure with the 2023 performance of SVG in support of Hodder Education products. He said Hodder is focused on assisting teachers, parents, and learners in realising their unique potential.

Literacy Officer, Gaylene Wickham providing an overview of the competition noted the 25 percent increased participation of schools. She encouraged all those who are involved in preparing the students from their various schools to continue encouraging and motivating the students.

SEARCHLIGHT spoke with the top writers at the end of the presentation ceremony.

Rodgers of Petersville said she felt “very happy” after placing third with her narrative piece ‘Hiding from a Storm’.

She identified her biggest challenge as “having to work for the competition, plus finding time to do what I have to do for school”. However, she said her teacher supported and motivated her during the entire process.

Windsor Primary School’s, Amira Harry said her biggest challenge was overcoming “a serious case of writers’ block” however, she went on to cop the best descriptive essay, ‘The Fire’ which landed her the number two spot.

“While I was writing my story I had no idea what to write, but then the words started coming easily and then by the last five minutes I knew what to plan and I had everything that I needed.”

Harry revealed that she felt more confident about her preliminary essay as “I had more descriptive and transitional words, as well as more details on what I saw and witnessed.”

She concluded by saying “Honestly, I’m very proud of how I did and how I did it.”

The winner of the competition, Nina Delves declined to be interviewed.