About the Competition
Download the Threatened Species and Art Competition Media release.
The Macarthur region, our backyard, is home to a wide diversity of native plants and animals. Many of these plants and animals are affected by a range of impacts such as habitat loss, competition and predation from non-native species and foreign diseases. There are a range of species occurring within the local region that are at risk of extinction and have been listed as threatened species. Visit our Biodiversity page for more information on threatened plants and animals of the Wollondilly Shire.
The Threatened Species Art and Writing Competition (TSAC) is a regional environmental education program, involving Campbelltown City Council, Camden Council and Wollondilly Shire Council. The competition celebrates Biodiversity Month (September) and Threatened Species Day on 7 September.
The competition targets all stages of primary school, and is open to young people aged 5-12. TSAC encourages students to learn about a local threatened species and represent it in an artwork or creative writing piece.
The competition is now in its 13th year and through its cross-curricula nature has been successfully engaging primary schools in Geography, Science, Visual Arts and English throughout the Macarthur region.
How to enter
Whether you're creating an artwork or writing piece, entering is easy!
Enter Online
Simply complete the online entry form and attach your artwork or creative writing piece.
Online entries will be open on 20 July 2020 and close 21 August 2020
Enter By Post
Download the PDF entry form and submit your entries by post to any of the below locations:
Campbelltown City CouncilThreatened Species Competition PO Box 57, Campbelltown NSW 2560 |
Camden CouncilThreatened Species Competition PO Box 183, Camden NSW 2570 |
Wollondilly CouncilThreatened Species Competition PO Box 21 Picton NSW 2571 |
Want to know more?
Entering an artwork
All you need to do is ensure your entry:
- is of a threatened plant or animal species that occurs in the Macarthur region
- has name, age and contact details on the artwork
If you are entering as a school, please ensure that each student's name, age, school and class is identified on the artwork.
Be as creative as possible. You could use pens, pencils, crayons, or even stick things on, like leaves, twigs or cellophane.
Entering a creative writing story
We want you to write a short story that celebrates the beauty and uniqueness of our threatened plants and animals. You can get as creative as you like, however the story must include facts about one or more of the following:
- the plant or animal's habitat
- the plant or animal's diet
- the threats to the plant or animal
- how you think we can save the plant or animal from extinction
Entry is open to writers aged 8 to 12 years. All you need to do is:
- write a creative story that could be read to someone aged 5-6 years old
- make sure your story is no longer than one page
Waste to Art
Waste and plastic pollution has an enormous impact on the local and global environment.
The Waste to Art category is a category with the aim of getting students to consider how we might be contributing to the problem, and what we can do to move to a more sustainable future.
The Waste to Art project presents a reminder to practice the ‘5 Rs’ of waste minimisation, Refuse, Reduce, Repair, Reuse, and Recycle.
If your artwork qualifies for the waste to art category, please click tick the box when filling out your online submission.
Terms and Conditions
Competition Rules
Art and creative writing categories
1. Creative writing and artwork entries must be on an A4 piece of paper. Entries close Friday 21 August 2020.
2. Entries must feature a threatened plant or animal species that occurs in the Macarthur region.
3. Each individual entry must have an entry form attached if submitting a hard copy.
4. If you are entering as a school, please ensure that each student’s name, age, school and class is identified on the artwork or story.
5. Creative writing entries must include real facts about the featured plant or animal.
6. Artwork entries can incorporate any medium, including painting, collage and drawing.
7. Entrants in this competition give permission for their artwork and/ or story to be publicly displayed and reproduced by print and electronic media by the competition organisers for not-for-profit publications, advertising and promotional purposes, and for their name to be published if they are a winner.
8. Entries submitted by school groups/classes will be available for collection from respective local Council offices following the conclusion of the competition.
9. Any uncollected hard copy entries will be donated to local schools and/or libraries.
10. All personal information gathered by the competition organisers will be used solely for the purposes of administering the Threatened Species Art and Writing Competition. 11. The judging panel will include a representative from each Council and their decision will be final. 12. Respective Councillors, competition organisers, the judging panel and their immediate families are not eligible to enter the competition.
Judging of creative writing entries
Each year we receive some inspiring reasons as to why students are inspired to create an artwork of their chosen species, and we want to capture these wonderful written words in the form of creative short stories.
To determine the best competition entries, Council’s library and environment staff have developed creative writing criteria and will be judging the stories against this.
Creative writing criteria:
• 50% for three or more accurate facts about your chosen species
• 20% creativity
• 10% grammar
• 10% structure. Beginning-middle-end
Awards Ceremony
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year there won’t be an award ceremony. Instead a video announcing the winners in each age category will be developed by the Macarthur Councils. This video will be shared via social media, with the winners being contacted ahead of time. Winners will have the opportunity to be featured in the video to describe their artwork and inspiration.
An exhibition of winning entries will be displayed on TV screens at all Macarthur libraries throughout Biodiversity month (September).
Contact
For more information please contact Wollondilly Council’s Community Nursery at nursery@wollondilly.nsw.gov.au