Principal Reflections

Dear Parents and Carers,

2026 Students As Authors Writing Competition

Congratulations,  Jordan – Our Award Winning Author! 

We were incredibly proud to celebrate a wonderful achievement for Year 2 student Jordan, who was named the Infants Category Winner of the 2026 Students As Authors Writing Competition for his story, My Adventures With Extinct Animals.

Jordan was inspired to write his story after watching a video about extinct animals. His curiosity led him to discover all sorts of interesting facts, which he cleverly wove throughout his story. His favourite extinct animal is the Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine.

Following his win, Jordan’s story was illustrated by local author and illustrator Trish Donald and published on the SORA digital library.

On Tuesday, 8th September, Jordan and his classmates took part in a very special Zoom launch with Trish, where the completed book was revealed. It was a wonderful opportunity for Jordan to see his words and ideas transformed into a beautifully illustrated book and to share this exciting moment with his classmates.

For an eight year old in Year 2, this was an outstanding achievement, and something of which Jordan and his family should be incredibly proud.

Congratulations, Jordan! We loved celebrating this special moment with you and cannot wait to see where your imagination and love of writing take you next.

What an amazing achievement for one of our young St Edward’s authors!

Stage 3 Debating

This week saw the culmination of the Diocesan Stage 3 Debating Competition. Following two initial rounds via Google Meet with schools across the Armidale Diocese, our final round featured in-person debates against St Nicholas Primary School.

Topic: "All fast food advertising should be banned."

Debate Results:

• Monday (at St Edward's): St Edward's provided the Negative position and St Nicholas gave the Affirmative. Result:  Awarded to St Nicholas (Affirmative).

• Tuesday (at St Nicholas): The remaining two teams competed, St Edward's with the Affirmative postion, St Nicholas with the Netagtive. Result: Awarded to St Edward's (Affirmative).

   

Both events were warmly supported by parents and family members, creating a fantastic atmosphere. All students demonstrated outstanding public speaking and teamwork skills in two hotly contested debates.

A huge congratulations to our 2026 Debate Teams:

• Lily, Kisha, Hayden and Evie

• Alice, Sophie, Abigail and Jason

Until next week,

Keep smiling, 

Alison Hatton 

(Principal)