International School students shine in Commonwealth competition |20 October 2017

Students at the International School Seychelles (ISS) have once again demonstrated their capacity for excellence by winning a sum of nine gold, silver and bronze awards in an international competition.

These nine students were rewarded for their proficiency in writing in the 2017 Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition, known as the world’s oldest writing competition.

Kathleen Walker and Arth Shah were the recipients of the gold awards while Xavier Robinson, Alicia Bonnelame, Chloe Loizeau and Richard Laljee clinched silver.

The bronze awards went to Jovan Varsani, Stephie Lespoire and Toshani Khanna.

This year’s theme, ‘A Commonwealth For Peace’, prompted participants aged 18 and under to explore and express their ideas on the meaning, process and importance of peace.

The competition was divided into two categories; the junior category for those under 14 and senior for those aged between 14 and 18.

In an interview with the press earlier this week, gold award recipient, 13-year-old Kathleen Walker, explained that she had not expected to come out with such a distinction especially since she had written her story in only one day.

But it would seem that her competition entry on the illusion of peace and how that illusion should be translated into actions impressed the judges.

12-year-old Arth Shah, who also won gold, described his entry as one that dealt with the struggles of a man living in Syria and in which he explored the depths of war.

Meanwhile 17-year-old Chloe Loizeau who achieved a bronze last year and silver this year, remarked that she is striving to reach gold for the 2018 competition since it would be her last year for eligibility.

The schools’ head of English department, Julie Donlon, explained that the annual competition always comes as an opportunity for the students to develop their creative writing skills and to better understand the topic at hand.

“The topic of peace is a very important one in this day and age, and I think it is something that the students are very concerned about. For them to explore this issue in creative writing and in discursive writing as well was a really powerful and important experience for them,” Ms Donlon provided.

The students had three months to prepare their submissions and, aside from Ms Donlon, they also gained help from Phil Brown who is another tutor at ISS.

According to the Royal Commonwealth Society, over 12,300 young people from Commonwealth countries entered submissions for this year’s competition.