Budding Writer Wins Huge Cash Prize

>Naomi Adam, from St Luke’s C E Primary School, Merseyside, won £1,500 for her school and £500 for herself after being named the second prize winner in the SCEMES National Short Story Competition.

The competition, launched by the education supply company SCEMES Ltd, invited Key Stage 2 pupils across the country to write a story on the theme of ‘One World’ to help raise the profile of sustainability in schools.

Over 400 seven to eleven-year-olds entered the competition, which offered a total prize fund of over £5,000. Their stories ranged in theme from environmental degradation to the misuse of resources and social injustice, but it was Naomi’s story about slavery that particularly drew the judges’ attention.

Multi-award winning writer and competition judge Alan Gibbons described Naomi’s story as “powerfully written with a powerful subject matter and excellent vocabulary,” whilst author and educationalist Bill Laar called it “a powerful and imaginative description of the end of slavery.”

“Naomi remarkably projects herself into the mind and state of a slave,” said Bill Laar, “and develops and maintains the concept to the uncompromising and tragic ending. ‘Slavery’ is a notable and highly promising effort that is in tune with the intention and implications of the theme of ‘One World’.”

Naomi was inspired to write her story after taking part in an opera in Liverpool Cathedral about the slave trade and the city of Liverpool. The experience had a profound effect on the schoolgirl and motivated her to write a story about the emotional concept of slavery.

Naomi’s teacher Michael Preston explained: “The experience of taking part in the opera seems to have stimulated this story which is very emotional and full of amazing vocabulary. People often say that the bigger the stimulus, the better the writing and that certainly seems to have been the case here.”

The good news of Naomi’s win was announced at St Luke’s Primary in front of 59 year six pupils, who all congratulated Naomi with huge round of applause. Naomi wins a prize of her choice up to the value of £500 and has decided to use the money to buy a laptop so that she can continue with her writing career.

The prize certainly seems an appropriate reward for a budding writer and means that Naomi need never find herself full of inspiration but with nowhere to write. Whilst penning her winning story ‘Slavery’, she was forced to jot down sentences on her mobile phone so that she didn’t forget them at a later date!

Naomi’s mum Fiona Adams commented: “Naomi has always loved reading and writing but has never entered any writing competitions before. She was really excited and delighted to have won this prize and it will certainly inspire her to keep writing. Her friends had great fun coming up with suggestions about what she could spend the £500 on, but we’ve decided that a laptop is the best idea.”

St. Luke’s Primary in Formby are also celebrating Naomi’s win as her story has won them £1,500 to spend on their school.

The money must be spent through suppliers featured in SCEMES’ Headteachers and Bursars Handbooks, directories of suppliers that are exclusively designed for the educational marketplace.

“We were thrilled to win this money for the school,” said teacher Michael Preston. “All the staff were delighted when it was announced during the morning briefing as it means that we will be able to buy something special for the school that the budget wouldn’t normally allow.

“We are very short of picnic benches and outside seating,” he added, “so we hope to use the money to buy some outside seating for the school. We have been looking through the ‘Handbook of Sustainable Procurement’ and will start contacting suppliers soon.”

The SCEMES National Short Story Competition is one of the largest competitions of its kind and is widely supported by authors, government ministers and education organisations such as NATE, The NPH and the National Literacy Association.

SCEMES Ltd. first began running National Writing Competitions in 2006 to provide teachers with an easy route through which they could teach sustainable development through the National Curriculum and give pupils an opportunity to voice their opinions about issues such as climate change, which would affect their futures.

This year’s competition was supported by a raft of renowned children’s authors including Joyce Dunbar, Alan Gibbons, Brian Keaney and Geraldine McCaughrean and has elicited some fantastic responses from pupils who all engaged imaginatively and emotionally with the theme of ‘One World’.

The competition coordinator Helen Gordon commented: “We have been delighted with the success of the competition and the high standard of the entries received. Pupils approached the theme of ‘One World’ in many different ways, but all showed a deep connection to the world around them and a desire to make the world a better place.”

To read all the winning entries, including Naomi’s story, or to find out more about the winners and prizes visit www.scemes.com/writing

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Editors Notes:

Background:

SCEMES Ltd was established in 1999 as an Education Service Provider and has since grown to be the number one resource for educational purchasing.

The company publishes the Headteachers and Bursars Handbook of Procurement, a directory listing a vast range of product and service providers for schools.

In April 2007 SCEMES Ltd published the first national Handbook of Sustainable Procurement offering schools advice on eco-issues and a directory of sustainable suppliers to help schools achieve their sustainable schools targets.

Both Handbooks are sent, free of charge to over 32,000 schools each year and all SCEMES’ services to schools are free.

Over the last five years, SCEMES has run several competitions with a view to giving something back to schools and donated prizes totalling over £100,000.

Last year, SCEMES ran a poetry competition on the theme of ‘The Environment’ and this year’s Short Story Competition follows hot on the heels of that success, with the theme of ‘One World’ designed to give pupils the opportunity to develop their understanding of ‘The Environment’ by placing it within a global context.

The SCEMES National Short Story Competition was judged by multi-award-winning children’s author Alan Gibbons, The Sustainable Development Commission’s Commissioner for Education, Ann Finlayson, and author and educationalist Bill Laar.

Comments:

Ann Finlayson: “It was a pleasure to read such imaginative stories. Some made me hopeful, some sad, some made me gasp and some made me laugh! There were adventures, love stories, stories of rebirth and reconciliation.

I particularly enjoyed the many different lenses the children chose to look at our world and to show how we behave on it. There was everything from the perspective of animals, future generations, people from different cultures and times, and even the perspective of an aluminium can!

They took very complex issues – environmental degradation and social injustice and interwove it with great understanding of us humans – our foibles, our loves, our cares. It gave me real hope that with this understanding we could create One World worth saving!”

Bill Laar: “The stories ranged across issues from the domestic and containable to the global and apocalyptic, from uncaring misuse of rare and precious resources, through slavery and human exploitation, to the destructive consequences of war.

Common to all, whatever the particular approach, was an awareness of and a deep concern about the great threats to the welfare and survival of the planet; an insight into the injustice and hardship endured by vast sections of humanity, and a moving rallying cry for unified action to bring about a secure future for the world, and humane treatment and fair living conditions for all peoples.

The theme of “One World,” with all its implications, has succeeded in inspiring from the young authors coherent, moving, convincing viewpoints and arguments, expressed with high competence and technical certainty.”

For more information contact Helen Gordon, Marketing and Projects Manager on 01691 664199 helen@scemes.net