Hazelwood Schools triumph in Leukaemia Cancer Society Writing Competition by Melanie Gonsalves
18th September 2016
For the last five years, KS2 children from Hazelwood Schools have been entering a short story writing competition for schools, organised by the Leukaemia Cancer Society. This charity is dedicated to ensuring that more people with Leukaemia survive, have the best possible quality of life and that their families and carers get the support they need. See their website to find out more about their dedicated work: www.leukaemiacancersociety.org.uk
Our school is very happy to support such a worthy cause and our children have been inspired to write some incredible stories in the course of the annual competition. Twenty three of our children were invited to an awards ceremony on 10th June, at the Civic Centre to receive a book containing all the winning and shortlisted stories. It is always a lovely event and very exciting for the children since the judge, who is always a well-known author, presents the children with the books and talks about his own work and how he got started in writing.
We asked our three pupils who actually won in their age categories if they could write a few words about what inspired them to write their entry or if they had any tips to pass on!
Olivia Wilks – winner of the girls 7-9 years – ‘Trench Memories’, a story was about the memories of a World War II survivor
I had read some of Michael Morpugo’s books but I didn’t exactly enjoy them as they were quite sad stories. What I did like though was the description he used and ‘Billy the Kid’ gave me the idea to base my story on World War 2. However, I wanted to give a little twist so that it wouldn’t be too sad. When my parents read my story, they said it reminded them of my great grandpa Bill because he always looked forward to meal times. He fought in Italy during the Second World War. He survived and kept a diary which I am looking forward to reading.
Leo Payne – winner of the boys 7-9 years – ‘Caught Red-Handed’, a story about a boy who is caught smuggling his pet cat into the examination room.At first I had absolutely no clue what to write down. After a while, I thought up a basic idea of what I was going to write but I still struggled writing it down though. For me the hardest part was adding a title. My top tip for writing a good story is: make it reasonably humorous. Trust me, it works a treat!
Nicholas Tolley – winner of boys 10-12 years – ‘That Sinking Feeling’, a story about getting stuck in muddy salt marshes.
My story was inspired by a journey to Norfolk and a walk on the Stiffkey salt marshes. It was a memorable day and that is why I chose to write about it. I enjoy a competition, even if it involves writing! It was interesting to attend the prize giving and I really liked my prizes. It’s nice to know it’s all for a good cause – the Leukaemia Cancer Society
