Worthy winners of the 500 Word Writing Competition announced

Award winning children’s authors Frank Cottrell Boyce, Joseph Delaney and Patrice Lawrence, alongside twelve other judges, have revealed the winning entries to the popular Alsop High School 500 Word Writing Competition.

Launched on World Book Day, Alsop’s many entrants submitted their stories in the hope of winning their particular category: KS3, KS4 and Alsop Family.

Following Alsop High School’s launch of Reading the Alsop Way in 2019, Frank was appointed to the influential role as the patron of reading, whilst Joseph Delaney was appointed as the patron of writing. Together, as influential ambassadors for Alsop High School, they have worked tirelessly to promote both reading and writing within school and the wider community, reading and writing are at the heart of the Alsop way, grounded upon three pillars of knowledge, respect and opportunity.

During a special on-line assembly, both Frank and Joseph spoke about their love for reading, writing and their role as children’s author. They exclusively read extracts from their upcoming novels, prior to their release, giving students a taste of their fantabulous writing: Frank read from Noah’s Gold and Joseph from Wulf’s Bane.

A visit to Alsop, alongside a book signing event, will take place this summer term which students are very excited about, they have not seen either of these authors, face to face, for over 18 months. Furthermore, the winner and runner-up from each category will be congratulated at a special celebration including guests from primary feeders.

Mr Masher, headteacher, said: “It is a real privilege for Alsop staff, students and the wider community that Frank and Joseph have accepted their influential roles as patrons of reading and writing; both continue to encourage and develop a reading and writing for pleasure by changing and challenging the conversation and culture of Alsop through their influential visits that include our partner primary schools.”

In relation to the 500 Word Writing competition, Mr Masher said: “Literacy is at the heart of everything we do at Alsop. I am immensely proud of all of our students and staff, but especially, I am delighted that so many entrants, students, parents and staff, entered our annual competition.

“The response this year was astounding, with numbers having quadrupled since the competition first began in 2019. The plot lines, use of vocabulary, variety of ideas, originality and flair, challenged our judges. I know choosing winners for each category was incredibly difficult.”

Ms Tapia-Bowes, literacy co-ordinator at Alsop said: “The competition highlighted once again the importance of writing as a powerful educational skill that enables us to practice our craft, enabling readers to lose themselves in story. It also further supported the fact that if we read stories, we have the power to motivate, persuade, inform and inspire.”

Winners and runners-up of the Alsop 500 Word Writing competition were:

Winner KS3: Emma Williams – Year 7

Runner-up KS3: Kejsi Cota – Year 8

Winner KS4: Abisa Arivalagan – Year 11

Runner-up KS4: Olivia Romney – Year 10

Winner Alsop Family: Mr David Swallow – parent Runner-up Alsop Family: Mr Lee Dolan – staff