Heywire for Educators
Put Heywire in your curriculum!
The ABC's Heywire competition is calling for stories by year 10, 11 and 12 students from rural and regional Australia. English, Media, SOSE and Art teachers around the nation use Heywire as a 'real life' task for students exploring issues such as: identity, place, journeys, discovery or belonging; or in any unit that involves producing personal narratives.Entrants submit a story about an aspect of their life in their neck of the woods, in any format: text, video, audio or photos.
Entries for the 2016 Heywire Competition close on Friday, September 16, 2016. Winning Heywire stories are played throughout the ABC network - on regional and metropolitan ABC Local Radio stations, nationally on triple j, Radio National, ABV TV and via ABC online. Winners score and all expenses paid trip to the Heywire Regional Youth Summit.
Download our Teaching Notes
For a simple 3-page lesson plan to run Heywire in a year 10, 11 or 12 English or media studies class download our Heywire Secondary Teaching Notes (PDF) prepared by the Victorian Association for the Teaching of English (VATE). It contains notes for teachers and worksheets for students to guide them in creating a personal narrative to enter in the Heywire Competition.New Heywire learning objects on ABC Splash
ABC Splash, has created exciting online tools featuring past Heywire-winning stories, to make incorporating Heywire in your classroom even easier and more beneficial for your students. Especially produced for educators, there are prompts to analyse and explain how text structures and language features influence audience response.Some of my year 10 students are 15 are they eligible?
Yes. If a student turns 16 by 31 January 2017 then they are eligible for the 2016 comp. If they are still 15 on that day they will be automatically entered in the following year's competition. So your whole year 10 class is encouraged to enter.What makes a great Heywire story?
Heywire is not about being the best writer or media maker, it's about showing the rest of Australia what life is like for young people in your part of the country. It could be an opinion piece about an issue in the community, or a story about a challenge that the author has overcome or simply why they like living where you do. This is an opportunity for your students to be honest about their lives in regional and rural Australia on a national platform.Check out last year's winners and our top ten tips http://www.abc.net.au/heywire/winners/to produce a great Heywire story!
How do I upload my student's entries?
Click Enter Now at the top of the page and follow the prompts to enter a story.Want an ABC journalist to do a FREE Heywire workshop in your school?
We are often able to organise for ABC journalists to provide exciting workshops in a year 10, 11 or 12 classes at your high school. Topics covered are:- What it's like to be a journalist
- Tips for starting a career as a journalist
- How to enter Heywire and what you win
- Coming up with a great Heywire story topic
- Tips for creating a great personal narrative story
Express your interest in an ABC Heywire workshop by emailing us at abcheywire@abc.net.au
The annual Heywire award for excellence in storytelling
Each year one school in each state receives an 'Excellence in Storytelling' award based on the quality and diversity of its Heywire entries. In 2015, we recognised the achievements of:- Cummins Area School, SA
- Nimbin Central School, NSW
- Nagle Catholic College, WA
- Yirara College, NT
- St Mary MacKillop College, VIC
- Hughenden State School, QLD
Congratulations to the teachers and students for providing such high quality entries in the Heywire competition.
