Curlewis Public School student, Cooper King-Seach, 11, had never written a poem before 'My Aboriginal Teacher'.

On Wednesday, the Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society announced he had won their Assisted Learning Primary Winner.

Incredibly, James Hogbin, the teacher who had such an impact on Cooper, hasn't even been at the school for a year.

Known by all as 'Frog', Mr Hogbin is the 55-student school's Aboriginal Education Officer. The poem includes words in Kamilaroy, a language 'Frog' has been teaching Cooper.

"I'm pretty humbled by it," the teacher said.

"When I was first informed that Cooper was writing the poem about me I was a bit overwhelmed. I went up to him and had a bit of a joke with him: of all the mugs that he could have picked he chose me. I've got a lot of appreciation and a lot of time for Cooper, for him to do that for me, that was pretty awesome."

Cooper said he liked 'Frog' because he helped by "teaching us about Aboriginal history and culture."

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Curlewis Principal, Jacqui Jones, said it was the first time any student from the school had won a section of the competition.

Cooper has won $400, a selection of books and a trophy, and would have also won a trip to Sydney for the national award presentation, but for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Hogbin said the town has been abuzz with the news of Cooper's win.

"Everyone was pretty stoked with it," he said.

"I've had family members of his reach out. There's been a lot of people talking about it and let me know of their appreciation. There's a fair bit of hype around little Cooper at the moment."

Cooper isn't the only small-town winner of the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards in the region.

Fairfax Public School student Eileen Murphy took home the Kurrumbede award, which goes to a primary or secondary student living in a 100 kilometre radius of Gunnedah. Her school has just three students.

Paddy Harris from Rowena Public School won another award for a poem about his tractor, called 'Planting'.

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