What the 10-year-old pupil from Dunedin’s George Street Normal School had actually done was get the best test result in the country for pupils her age.
It felt good, she said.
"It's really surprising, I didn't think I was going to win it."
The test was for the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (Icas) writing assessment.
Testing herself against other year 5 pupils throughout Australasia, she was limited to writing a story of between 200 and 300 words for the test.
The story had to include a scarf, forest and a watch.
The story Ash wrote followed a girl strolling through the forest as she collected water for her impoverished family.
"She found an ancient watch buried in the ground and she put it on, thinking it could help her find out the time."
But the watch did not work correctly and the girl got mad, her anger causing her scarf to light up and knock her out.
The story ended there as she "did not have enough space to write anything else", Ash said.
She enjoyed writing as it helped her express what she was thinking without saying it directly.
Her parents were proud of her achievement, she said.
Deputy principal Leanne Stanton said she had to withhold the news from Ash so that they could announce it in front of the entire school at assembly.
"We're very proud and not surprised."
The school had a good history with the test, with at least four pupils having won the writing competition in the past.
