Xia du Toit is our 2021 Story Stars winner!

Would it not be every Grade 4 learner’s dream to write, narrate and star in an animated film? Well, that is what has happened to Xia du Toit, our 2021 Story Stars winner!

Story Stars is an animated film created by using stories that were written and narrated by Grade 4 learners from the Western Cape. The film can be viewed and/or downloaded at https://wcedonline.westerncape.gov.za/story-stars(link is external)

This morning I visited Laerskool Mikro in Kuilsriver to announce Xia as the winner, and to premiere the next instalment of “Story Stars: The adventures of Felix and Felicity”, which now includes Xia’s story and her as a character alongside Felix and Felicity. I also launched the 2022 Story Stars competition for all current Grade learners.

Xia was approached at the end of last year, so that the WCED could begin the animation before the announcement today. It’s been a big secret ever since! Today we were able to share the video with her school’s current Grade 4 class to encourage them to enter this year. Xia now follows in the footsteps of our 2020 Story Stars winner from Philadelphia Primary School, Keschrie Booysen, in the Story Stars hall of fame!

I congratulate Xia for her wonderful story – Afrika-kinders (Children of Africa) – which was chosen because she used the correct punctuation, spelling and vocabulary, and was also extremely creative in her story, bringing in past events and creating new imaginative characters which made the animators very excited to animate it!

I also congratulate her teacher, Ms Thealize Blake, for inspiring her class to participate and producing such good creative writing skills, and her principal, Mr Louis Mouton.

Well done to our second and third place winners, Kungawo Ntoyanto from Blossom Street Primary School (2nd) and Ashlynn Jansen from Monte Vista Primary (3rd) for their wonderful stories.

Top 10 entries for 2021

Last year, hundreds of entries from schools were submitted, and after a lengthy adjudication process, the winning stories were selected.

2022 competition

The 2022 Grade 4 learners of the Western Cape can now write the next instalment of Felix and Felicity’s adventures.  The idea behind the competition is to get learners excited about creative writing and the opportunities it can bring. By having an animated version of the story, learners can really see their stories come to life!

In a survey of a class of Grade 4 learners in 2019, it was evident that their interests lay in watching cartoons and becoming YouTube stars! The WCED decided to create a competition which encouraged reading and creative writing, that could ultimately result in an animated film – written, narrated and starred in by the winner themselves.

Grade 4 teachers are encouraged to allow their learners to read the story booklet which has been provided to schools, watch the animation film, and then finish the story by including themselves as a character using the learner booklets.

Teachers have been provided a matrix to assist them with marking the creative story and must submit the winning entry from their class to the WCED by 15 April 2022.

Prizes

In addition to writing, starring in and narrating the video, which will be watched by thousands of learners across the Western Cape, the Story Stars winner also received a tablet, book bag and branded stationery. The winning school also receives a R10 000 transfer payment for learning and teaching support material.

The 2nd and 3rd prize winners each received a tablet, book bag and stationery.

I encourage all Grade 4 teachers to show their classes the latest video and booklet, complete the next series and submit their winning stories.

We can’t wait to see who our next Story Star will be!

Source: Government of South Africa