News
500 Words, BBC Radio 2’s short story competition for those 13 and below, is back again! The competition officially launched on Monday and closes at 7pm sharp on Thursday 22nd February. We would love to see lots of Belmont pupils participate again this year; last year several pupils reached the next stages of the competition and we saw some fantastic stories being written.
To submit a story, parents/guardians need to create an account on the BBC website, but if you would like to print a copy and show it to Miss Harrison or Mrs Hunt, you will earn a Commend for your creativity and hard work. Your short story must be 500 words or fewer. The judges will be looking for:
Lower School: We would love to see as many of you as possible entering a story! A grownup will need to submit your story online if you want to join the competition – and remember to bring a copy in to school for a Commend. We hope lots of you want to take part and are looking forward to reading your fantastic ideas.
Upper School: On Tuesday in English lessons, students will watch the BBC videos about the competition and discuss effective story writing skills with their teachers. In response, all Upper School students will be set a 500 word story for their prep. next week. This will be a good opportunity for English teachers to assess each student’s retention of writing skills since November examinations, as learning this term in English has been mainly focused on developing reading skills in all year groups.
However, we are not suggesting that all students have to enter the BBC competition, which parents will need to do on their behalf. Any student who would like to enter should also print a copy of their story and hand it to Mrs Hunt or Miss Harrison for a commend, in addition to their English teacher as their prep. This will also be an excellent opportunity for those who wish to enter the competition to have feedback, prior to entry, from their English teacher.
If a student would like to handwrite their story for prep then we are not expecting the word count to be wholly accurate, but students should focus on writing a succinct but imaginative piece.
For more information, please see the official site (which also has lots of writing tips)
We can’t wait to read all your stories – happy writing!
Mrs Hunt (Librarian & 500 Words Judge), Miss Bufton (Head of English), Mrs Pendred (English Co-Ordinator) and Miss Harrison (Deputy Head – Academic)
