Richard Lander School
Pupils from the school take the top 3 places in the Senior Section of the Competition
(Click pictures for captions)
Trish Hewit, Club Publicity Officer has issued the following piece to the local Press :
A group of talented young writers from Richard Lander School wowed judges at this year’s Truro heat of the annual Rotary Young Writer competition with an amazing range of short stories and poems on the theme of “My Happiest Day”.
Organised by members of the Rotary Club of Truro Boscawen, the local heat of the national writing competition attracted more than 100 entries – three times as many as usual - from schools in and around the Truro area.
“Creative writing is a talent to be celebrated, and to be able to write is a special gift” said Ian Bell, President of the Rotary Club of Truro Boscawen. “The aim of this competition is to give young people the chance to express themselves creatively in a piece of fiction or non-fiction, which can either be a story or a poem.“Our club has been taking part in the competition since it began and the quality of this year’s entries has been among the best we have ever seen. This is a tremendous achievement at a time when lessons have been taking place online and I would like to congratulate both the staff and their pupils for their efforts”.The annual competition is split into three age groups: Junior (7 – 10 years); Intermediate (11 – 13 years) and Senior ( 14 – 17 years). There are three stages – the local heat, organised by local Rotary clubs, with the winners of each of the three age groups then entered into a District Final. The winners of the District Finals then compete against each other in the national final to be awarded Rotary Young Writer of the Year.
Announcing the winners of the local heat, judge and Rotarian Peter Bayly said the young writers had produced some brilliant stories which had been a joy to read.
Winner of the senior category was Richard Lander pupil Jessica W. Her imaginative piece told the story of a parent about to leave prison after having been unfairly locked up for five years who was unsure about the reception she would receive from her son. Seeing him running towards her and jumping into her arms and realising he did not hate her made this her “Happiest Day“.
“Jessica’s piece really stood out “ said Peter Bayly. “It was very creative, with an air of mystery and intrigue which meant you did not know how it was going to end. There was lots of lovely detail and imagery and it left me wanting to know more”.Jessica, who will now represent the area at the Cornwall and Devon District Finals, said her idea was sparked by a comment from her teacher and she had really enjoyed bringing her story to life.
Runner up was Charlotte P whose “Happiest Day” was also based around the idea of a reunion – this time about someone returning home after taking part in the war in Afghanistan. Spilt into three sections, Charlotte’s story followed them first travelling back from Afghanistan , then travelling through London and finally being re-united with their family.
“This was another highly imaginative piece” said Peter Bayly. “The first two sections built the tension, with some lovely descriptions of the different places, leading up to the emotion of the eventual reunion”
Explaining that she did not know anyone serving in the armed forces, Charlotte said she had seen pictures of soldiers returning home after fighting in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iran and wanted to capture the emotion in her story.
The day of the presentation was actually a very special day for Charlotte – as well as receiving her certificate and book token for her story, it was also her birthday.
In third place was Megan T whose ‘Happiest Day’ was based around a visit to the moors with her family. Explaining that spending time on the moor with her family had been one of her favourite pastimes before the COVID-19 pandemic, Megan said the first visit back to the moor post lockdown really would be her Happiest Day’.
Praising Megan for creating a fantastic picture of a lovely day out in her story through the use of vivid description and imagery, Peter Bayly said this was a skilled piece of writing which really captured the happiness of the event.
Each of the three winners were presented with a certificate and a national book token to the value of either £25, £20 and £15 by President Ian Bell who also presented Highly Commended certificates and £10 book tokens to Emily C, Freya G, Finn M, Reuben P and Grace T.
Also attending the presentation event was Mike Grundy, Senior Vice President of the club. Unfortunately Richard Lingham, local co-ordinator of the Young Writer competition and a judge, and Juliet Lingham, the third judge were unable to take part.
Richard Lander teacher Amanda Hughes was delighted with the success of the pupils and said that having the opportunity to write for a real audience had been a great experience they would always remember.
The Rotary Club of Truro Boscawen has a proud history of encouraging local young people to take part in national Rotary competitions, organising heats of Rotary Young Musician, Youth Speaks and Young Chef events, as well as the Young Writer competition. They also stage a number of fund raising events to support local, national and international charities. Further information about the club’s activities is available from their website .
Related pages...
Devoran School
more There were two "Highly Commended" entries in the Junior Section from Devoran. (Click the pictures for captions)
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Young Writer Competition 2021
back Presentations to pupils of Devoran School and Richard Lander School are shown here. There will be further presentations after Easter.