The writing talent of 10-year-old Kieran, from Crab Lane Primary School in Manchester, has been named winner of the letter category as part of the WHSmith Ultimate Writing Challenge.
The competition celebrates 15 years of the WHSmith Trust, WHSmith and the National Literacy Trust working together to bring exciting children’s literacy programmes to schools in the UK through the Young Readers Programme and was set exclusively this year for primary schools who have participated in projects run by the National Literacy Trust and WHSmith over the last 15 years.
Pupils could choose from three exciting writing challenges set by a different author, poet or illustrator and entries were judged on their creativity, originality and imagination:
The Young Readers Programme has brought inspiring author visits to primary schools, encouraged a love of reading culture in schools and at home and given the gift of reading through vital book donations of over 70,000 books to over 27,000 children across over 100 schools in the UK.
Nick Oram, Project Manager of Young Readers Programme at the National Literacy Trust, said: “Working with WHSmith and the WHSmith Trust is such a joy, the team are so supportive and enthusiastic about doing all they can to help us in our mission to get books into the hands of children who may often struggle with access to books, ignite a love of reading and raise literacy levels.
“This writing competition has been a great way to celebrate 15 years of hard work and fun. I’d like to thank Hilary Robinson, Karl Nova and Steve Antony for their brilliant challenges, we were so impressed by all the entries, and of course especially by Kieran, a worthy winner of the letter challenge, well done Kieran! We are very grateful for the continued support of WHSmith and the WHSmith Trust and very much look forward to all the wonderful things we will achieve together in the future.”
Nicki Woodhead, Chair of the WHSmith Trust, said: “We are delighted to have reached this brilliant milestone with the National Literacy Trust and reflect on the fantastic work the Young Readers Programme has done to help build children and young people’s literacy skills. I’ve really enjoyed being part of the judging panel for the Ultimate Writing Competition. I was absolutely amazed with all the entries, it was a fantastic way to celebrate the anniversary of our 15 year partnership with the National Literacy Trust.”
literacytrust.org.uk/programmes/young-readers-programme/
