My Reflection on the Melbourne Writers’ Festival
The Melbourne Writers’ Festival was held at the State Library of Melbourne on Wednesday, May 16, 2026. Thirty‑two students from Year 9 and Year 10 at Hampton Park Secondary College attended, along with students from other schools across Victoria. As a Year 10 student who took part, I found the event very well organised and inspiring.
There were four well‑known authors and one incredible cartoonist. One of the authors was Amy Doak, who has written some amazing books, and the cartoonist was First Dog on the Moon. We really enjoyed listening to them speak. We asked questions about their experiences, and we learned a lot about writing, creativity, and what it takes to become an author.
Throughout the day, the authors shared their ideas about writing books and gave us valuable advice. At the end, there was a small bookshop where we could buy their books, and the authors were there to sign them.
Overall, it was a lovely day for all of us. We enjoyed the experience and felt lucky to be part of such an adventurous and informative event. – Pari Roshan
Model UN reflection on my experience
On May 20, 2026, Dandenong High School hosted a Model United Nations event focused on the theme “Ending Violence Against Women.” It was an inspiring opportunity for students to represent different countries and share their perspectives on this important global issue.
Hampton Park Secondary College proudly represented Mexico and the United Kingdom with a brilliant team of eight students from Years 10, 11, and 12. We were accompanied by the wonderful Ms Elsa Noble and Mr Antil, who supported us throughout the day.
Several other schools also took part, including Melbourne Girls’ College, MacRobertson Girls’ High School, Pascoe Vale Girls’ College, and Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College. Together, we represented around 23 countries, such as the USA, China, India, Japan, Germany, the Marshall Islands, France, and many more.
The event began with each country presenting its position statement, outlining their stance on ending violence against women. Afterward, Dandenong High School provided a well‑organised morning tea, giving everyone a chance to connect and reflect.
Later, we moved into discussions on proposed amendments, where countries could agree or disagree with each other’s ideas. During lunch, from 12:30 to 1:30, delegates had the chance to negotiate, collaborate, and build support for their amendments. We then voted on the revised clauses and continued debating the reasons behind our agreements and disagreements.
By the end of the day, everyone from our school felt proud, energised, and grateful for the experience. It was a memorable event filled with learning, teamwork, and meaningful conversations. We talked on the way with each other and everyone was feeling super happy. Many of us left with new friendships and a deeper understanding of global cooperation. – Pari Roshan
Writers Festival Reflection
A day to remember.
20 VCE English students from Hampton Park Secondary College gathered at the State Library of Victoria to engage with the authors Maxine Beneba Clarke and Alice Pung, as they discussed their process of orchestrating their most notable novels. This festival expanded our literacy skills from the live panel discussions to masterclasses, thus shifting our mindset on what it means to be a writer, as anyone can become one.
One takeaway I got from this experience was if you want to improve your writing skills just start, even if it’s just a short sentence, don’t procrastinate. Jump over the hurdle and see where your mind takes you. It may travel to places that you believed was way beyond your own comprehension. Writing gives you freedom. An open avenue to escape and drown your thoughts in.
For our VCE unit, Crafting Texts, our focal framework was ‘Writing about Country’. Clarke, who is most notably recognized for her award-winning title The Hate Race, was asked a question from one of our students at Hampton Park, which consisted of, “Do you believe country more of a home or a feeling?”. From Clarke’s reaction alone that the question made her think deeply. She expressed how the obvious answer was both, then detailed her origins and where her heart had felt most at home. How home can be not only a tangible reality, but rather a place also where you have familiarity with, in terms of smell, touch and taste. On the other hand, home can be something that’s felt in your heart, deeply tied to memory and belonging.
I would say for me personally home is more a feeling. As someone who comes from displaced parents, I feel I have two homes in two different countries. Home is something that I hold on to and travel with wherever I go.
Clarke really resonated with me when during her panel discussion, she had expressed the lack of representation she saw of Black people among peers in her industry. Her courage to change the set narrative is inspirational. She stands as an open mirror to people that may look like her, whilst also displaying that you can paint your own truth via stories. She shows young people like me that you can be in those same rooms doing what you love. – Joy
Writers Festival Reflection
The Melbourne Writers Festival was an event where authors and illustrators of all genres came to speak to younger, aspiring students from schools across the country. The event was an interesting and insightful gathering where we were able to learn about how authors of different origins: plan, write, and finally publish their books. Their struggles and turmoils. The festival this year was hosted in the State Library on the 6th of May with approximately 30 HPSC students attending. I learned about how it is not always easy to publish a book with many of the authors on stage talking about how it was difficult for them to find someone who would even consider their book to be published. Other authors, spoke about how they made their books and how they got the idea to even begin writing. Karen Comer, one of the authors tells of how she got her idea for sci-fi book, Once Upon Tomorrow while doing the laundry and listening to a podcast which shows how ideas can truly sprout from anything. All of them also talked about Artificial Intelligence (A.I) with each of them had different thoughts on it, First Dog on the Moon thought that it could be a useful tool for everyone, writers alike, to better their knowledge on everything while others, like Tigest Girma said that Artificial Intelligence should not be used when it comes to art as it sucks out the human soul and dedication that is put into it can make work feel lifeless. A majority of students found the event fun and educational with us learning about the creative process of authors. – Ricky Siv
IDAHOBIT – International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersex Discrimination, and Transphobia!!
On Friday, the 15th of May, the wellbeing team put together a bunch of different fun and outgoing activities for the entirety of the school to partake in, to support the LGBTQ community. As a member of the wellbeing and inclusion committee, we assisted the wellbeing team by getting engagement with fellow students who were curious about IDAHOBIT activities, such as the sticker booth, in which I proudly promoted for all students who passed by (free those students from my loud mouth), as well as LGBTQ quiz game for lollies, which students absolutely loved, which was amazing as students not only left with a bunch of lollies but a bunch of facts about LGBTQ, which is a definite win win!
As I did help in running IDAHOBIT activities, I also decided to engage with activities myself, and it was amazing! From a helper’s perspective, it was lovely to see many students who were curious about the day and were more than happy to take an understanding of what IDAHOBIT means and why it is so important, and to add on, be so respectful to the day and to everyone who helped in running it! Now as someone who took part, I absolutely loved the photo booth! The Photo Booth was extremely fun and engaging; the wellbeing committee and I took many photos with eachother as well as taking any teachers who were willing to (and with consent of course), and took many silly photos, with our IDAHOBIT signs. It was also good to see many students who were extremely excited in taking photos with their friends and with the signs!
It’s hard to say who exactly took part in these activities, as I feel like I spent a lot of time promoting and asking around students if they would like an LGBTQ bracelets, which to say, was extremely fun, I noticed that there was a mix of different years levels of students which was extremely amazing to see, all spread across year 7s to year 12s, which was great that all year levels could participate and gain a greater understanding of IDAHOBIT. I encouraged many of my friend to engage with the activities as well as students passing by, in which, a lot did not engage, but to also say, many did engage.
Overall, the day was extremely amazing to be present for, witnessing many students partake in activities and gaining a general understanding of what IDAHOBIT is and what it means. I personally felt like the activities were super fun and engaging for many and all students, as to getting free stickers, badges, flags, lollies and most importantly an understanding, which I believe and saw, many students achieve. I even find myself gaining and obtaining a greater understanding of what IDAHOBIT means, so I believe if I was able to gain a greater understanding, I know many other students did too. – Azalea T