11/10/2026
Rotary Writing Competition for Year 6 Students.
A special project of the Rotary Club of the Hills-Kellyville is an annual writing competition for year 6 students in schools across the Hills area and surrounding districts. This year’s writing competition culminated in an awards night held on August 31st at The Lyceum in the Castle Hill RSL Club, attended by over 200 people. School pupils, their teachers and parents as well as special guests and Rotary Club members were at the event. Special guests included Mark Hodges MP (State Member for Castle Hill), Frank De Masi (Deputy Mayor – Hills Shire Council), Mitchell Blue (Councillor – Hills Shire Council), Georgina Valjack (Councillor – City of Parramatta Council), Haran Ramacharan (District Governor Elect – Rotary District 9685), and Mike Yeo (Director – Castle Hill RSL Group)
This year is a significant plus one milestone year. It was 51 years since the Rotary Club of The Hills-Kellyville was established and 21 years of the Rotary Writing Competition. Both have gone from strength to strength. The Rotary Club of The Hills-Kellyville is proud to recognise the effort and achievements of the students from 14 local schools who participated in this popular annual competition that primary schools are eager to participate in.
“The purpose of the competition is to promote Literacy among Year 6 Students in the Hills district. The title of this year's narrative was ‘When I arrived, I opened the door and …….’. There were so many incredible entries from students across the local schools who participated that it was a challenge for the judge to select top entrants. The Rotary Writing Competition continues to be one of the highlights of our Rotary Year and in the words of Haran Ramachandran, 2026-27 District Governor Elect for Rotary District 9685, “the voice of every child in the competition mattered and they were encouraged to keep imagining, keep questioning and keep writing”. Schools represented in this year’s competition included Public Schools (Bella Vista, Crestwood, Excelsior, Ironbark Ridge, Kellyville, Matthew Pearce, Sherwood Ridge & Winston Hills) as well as Independent Schools (Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of The Angels, Our Lady of The Rosary, Rouse Hill Anglican College, St Angela’s & St Michael’s).
The top placed students and their schools were:
➢ 1st place: Zara Rahman – Iron Bark Ridge Public School
➢ 2nd place: Varsha Sivakumar – Sherwood Ridge Public School
➢ 3rd place: Shukan Trivedi – Matthew Pearce Public School
The winning schools were:
➢ 1st place: Matthew Pearce School
➢ 2nd place: Sherwood Ridge Public School
➢ 3rd place: Ironbark Ridge Public School
The top placed students and schools received awards, trophies and monetary prizes thanks to our patrons of the awards and Five Senses Education. We are also grateful to Club Grants NSW via Castle Hill RSL in supporting The Hills-Kellyville Rotary Club to host this event, as through their generosity, a large number of school representatives, parents, and students were able to participate in the Presentation Night.
The Rotary Club of the Hills-Kellyville has had a long association with youth programs in The Hills, further afield in Australia as well as overseas. These include Rotary Youth Exchange programs, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, The Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment and the Model United Nations Assembly but to name a few. Other works of the Club include local community events and fund raising for numerous programs far and wide, from the Hills area to outback Australia to overseas communities with specific needs. To be part of an inspired group that is making a difference, contact the club though our website or page.
