Year 7 Eleni Chapman is a true star! A member of the Stellatus Gifted and Talented programme, Eleni has been amazingly successful in her writing endeavours this year. Her review of the Musical âCharlie and the Chocolate Factoryâ was published in the ED! Section of Tuesday 23 Novemberâs West Australian. Her short story âAn Un-fur-gettable Caseâ was Highly Commended in the Terror Australis Festival 2021 Childrenâs Short Story Competition and her poem âThe Virus from Wuhanâ was Highly Commended in the Roland Leach Poetry Prize and awarded 2nd Place in the Silver Quill Written Bush Poetry Competition and has placed in the Woorilla Poetry Prize. Eleniâs ambition is to become a journalist and, with accolades like this, she is surely well on her way.
Ms Gina Goddard
Co-ordinator – Gifted and Talented Programme
THE VIRUS FROM WUHAN by Eleni Chapman
It was the virus from Wuhan, it was, that struck the world aghast
A great pandemic that swept right through, the death toll unsurpassed
Sending continents into lockdown, all in a state of shock
Back into their own countries, tourists began to flock
This tiny little virus was causing nation-wide alarm
And that was just the start of it, the virus from Wuhan
Mark McGowan closed the borders, and we had to learn from home
Using Zoom, Seesaw and SEQTA, Teams and Google Chrome
All that the newspapers would take the trouble to report
Was the news of statewide lockdowns, and JobKeeper support
And then there were those people who said COVID was a yarn
But it was really more than that, the virus from Wuhan
About halfway through this troubled time, the panic buying began
Tinned foods flew from the shelves as fast as checkout guys could scan
Toilet paper? There was none! The shelves were almost empty
And so began what we all know, the hell of 2020
We all carried hand sanitizer, just like a good-luck charm
This pandemic had changed all our lives, the virus from Wuhan
At every place we visited, we were told to contact trace
And there seemed to be a QR code in every little space
Every single one of us wanted COVID just to end
We wanted to go out again, and see family and friends
Itâs 2021 now and COVID has not been disarmed
Weâve simply had to learn to live, with the virus from Wuhan.