Kingston Writers Festival

Earlier this term, I had the pleasure of accompanying some of our wonderfully articulate and creative Mordialloc students to participate in the Kingston Melbourne Writers festival. Students from most primary and secondary schools in the Kingston Network of schools collaboratively composed their own original narratives. These were shared on the day and consequently, they have been published and available for all to read. You can access all the fabulous narratives located at the end of this article.

Please enjoy Aaliyah’s reflection of the day below.

Well done to all involved!

Vicky Vrettos – English Teacher

On August 22, five Mordialloc College students (Years 7-9) braved a bus and train to represent the school at the Kingston Writers Festival - an annual festival celebrating literature and the love of reading and writing. After signing in at host school Beaumaris Secondary College, the day started with keynote speaker, author Meredith Costain (known for her famous Ella Diaries) sharing her expertise and writing tips with the cohort, giving examples of times she based her stories onreal life experiences. After that, we split up into groups based on our year level and combined with students from other schools in order to co-write a story; after discussing which picture prompt to use and creating a plot, the year level groups allocated sections of the story to groups of two to three students. Eerily, every year level group from prep to secondary chose the same prompt - an image of a mysterious bridge! We ensured the story maintained fluency by working as a group to efficiently link them together after each section was completed. Then, the cohort combined together as a whole again to share the stories. Tim Richardson, MP for Mordialloc, even made an appearance to share his support of the festival’s promotion of literature. Tim stayed to listen to teacher and student representatives from each year level read out their stories. Organisers of the event revealed that all the stories written that day will be typed up, put into a book and sent to each school to display their collaborative work and serve as a memory of the festival. Thanks to Ms Vrettos for taking us and the school for organising it.

Digital Book Link: http://online.fliphtml5.com/epbav/qigi/

Aaliyah Zaph, Year 9