Pottsville Beach Public School is now the proud owner of $1000 worth of new books and a colourful reading mat after primary school student, Shae, won the inaugural Hutchisons Carpet Court Storybook Challenge.
Shae submitted a story about what she loves the most in her community, winning the prize for her classroom, as well as a book package worth $250 for herself. Shae’s story was about how much she likes the Pottsville wildlife.
Hutchisons Carpet Court reported an overwhelming response from the local com-munity to the inaugural Storybook Challenge, with wonderfully creative stories and pictures submitted from primary schools in the local area.
The entries were voted for by the community to establish five finalists, which were then judged by Geoff and Karen Rice of Hutchisons Carpet Court, along with local New South Wales author Nathan Luff.
Hutchisons store owner, Geoff Rice said, “Shae should be very proud of her creative efforts and it was great to see her take on our community. Congratulations to all the students that entered the Storybook Challenge, there were so many great drawings, it was hard to pick just one winner!”
Nathan Luff, author of Chicken Stu said, “The stories featured colourful drawings and showed a wonderful appreciation of friendship and community. It was wonderful to see these stories centre around people and activities that make up a community.”
More than 1700 New South Wales children entered the Storybook Challenge, describing what they love about their community. The program, which is being run in conjunction with the National Year of Reading, aims to encourage more shared reading and creative writing in classrooms across Australia.
With Australian students’ reading literacy levels on the decline, Hutchisons Carpet Court wanted to promote a more literate future for local children.
Carpet Court would like to extend a big thank you to all those who entered and supported the Storybook Challenge. The creativity and standard of entries was excellent and the program has reinforced Carpet Court’s relationship with its local communities. To view all entries received, visit www.facebook.com/CarpetCourt.
