SCHOOL CHILDREN HAVE THE WRITE ANSWER

30 Nov 2005 02:45 PM

National Winners announced in the Write Here, Write Now writing awards

Six young writers are celebrating their success as national winners of Write Here, Write Now 2005 - the creative writing awards for primary schools run by the Department for Education and Skills. The winners were chosen from over 32,200 entries from school children in years 4 and 5 (8-10 year olds) across England.

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony today at the Natural History Museum in London.

Schools Minister, Andrew Adonis said:

"The Write Here, Write Now awards are a celebration of children's writing. They provide an opportunity for children to demonstrate their creativity and have fun with writing. I was very impressed by the standard of this year's winning entries and by the level of interest in the awards. It is especially encouraging to see so many boys among the regional and national winners."

Children entering the awards were encouraged to give free rein to their imaginations and either complete a story started by Gillian Cross, a poem by Brian Patten or a piece of Persuasive Writing by Geraldine McCaughrean. They could also work in a group and follow advice from BBC Newsround's Lizo Mzimba to write a news report.

The national winners in each category are:

Story: Alexander Lewis, aged 10, Rushall Junior Mixed and Infant School, for "Race for the Rain Forest"
Poem: Suyamba Kumaresan, aged 10, The Mount Primary School, for "Over-Active Imagination"
Persuasive Writing: Tali Mayne, aged 10, Oldway Primary School, for "Alantacean: The Planet That Mirrors Your Mood."
Journalism: Pooja Gunamal , Adam Ismail and Amy Warner all aged 10, Selwyn Primary School for "Invasion From Outer Space"

Six winners were also announced in the Improvement Awards. Children were nominated by their teachers to enter these awards for having made significant improvements with their writing.

The Improvement Awards winners are:
Sandra Alves Ermida, aged 10, Westminster Cathedral School, for "Surprise in Disguise"
April Bixby, aged 10, Red Hill Primary School, for "There's Something in the Attic"
Lauren Curtis, aged 10, St Winefride's Catholic Primary School, for "The Chase"
Thomas Davis, aged 10, Ash Croft Primary School, for "Wonderful Wales"
Dean Lamble, aged 10, The Grove Primary School, for "Something in the kitchen cupboard"
Jamelia Oliver, aged 10, Ramsey Junior School, for "The dream that came to life"

All winning entries can be found at www.writehere.org.uk.

Poet Brian Patten, author of the opening lines in the Poem category, and one of the national judges, said:
"I love being part of Write Here, Write Now and the children's writing this year has been particularly impressive. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the entries and watch this space as these children are the authors, poets and journalists of the future!"

Winners have had their work published in a special book by Oxford University Press. Prizes from sponsors include software from Adobe, electronic equipment from Epson and pens from Stabilo, as well as visits to the set of Grange Hill or The Independent and the Newspaper Education Trust.

NOTES TO EDITORS

This Press Notice applies to England.

1. Write Here, Write Now 2005 supports the Primary National Strategy in improving children's writing skills and promoting the enjoyment of writing. The Primary National Strategy is raising standards for all primary aged pupils. In the 2005 Key Stage 2 English tests, 79 per cent of 11 year-olds achieved the expected standard for their age, an increase of 14 percentage points since 1998.

2. More information about the awards is on the website
www.writehere.org.uk

3. Biographies
The well-known writers providing opening lines and advice in each of the four categories are:

Gillian Cross - Story
Gillian has written over 40 books for children. The Demon Headmaster was turned into a hugely successful television series. Wolf won the Carnegie Medal for 1990 and The Great Elephant Chase won the Whitbread Children's Novel Award.
Brian Patten - Poem
Brian is the author of Gargling With Jelly and Thawing Frozen Frogs, the award-winning Mr Moon's Last Case and Juggling with Gerbils. He edited the acclaimed The Puffin Book of Utterly Brilliant Poetry and The Puffin Book of Twentieth Century Children's Verse.
Geraldine McCaughrean - Persuasive Writing
Geraldine is a prize-winning author who has been writing children's books for over 20 years. She has written over 120 books, which have been translated in to 26 languages. Winner of this year's Children's Whitbread Award for her novel Not The End Of The World, she has recently been awarded the honour of writing the sequel to Peter Pan. Lizo Mzimba - Journalism
Lizo currently presents Newsround, the children's news programme on CBBC. He's also written for various magazines and newspapers and has reported for the BBC One O'clock and Six O'clock News.

4. Other writers supporting Write Here, Write Now include: David Almond, Bernard Ashley, Tim Bowler, Malorie Blackman, Michael Coleman, Sue Cook, Michael Cox, Chris D'Lacey, Patricia Finney, Anita Ganeri, Morris Gleitzman, Romesh Gunesekera, Adam Hart-Davies, Lucy Hodges, Pete Johnson, Elizabeth Kay, Phillip Kerr, Stephen Knight, Caroline Lawrence, Roger McGough, Cliff McNish, Michael Morpurgo, Brian Moses, Robert Muchamore, Michelle Paver, Celia Rees, Meg Rosoff, Louise Sandall, Darren Shan, Steve Skidmore & Steve Barlow (a.k.a. The 2 Steves), Jeremy Strong, Nick Toczek, Martin Waddell, Ian Whybrow, Jacqueline Wilson and Gina Yashere.