Writing Award for Ark Byron Primary School Children
Three pupils win in national short story competition
The three winning pupils from the Acton school
April 30, 2024
Three pupils from the Ark Byron Primary Academy in Acton have been announced as winners in the Daunt Books Short Story Competition.
They are 5-year-old Joey Everett, 6-year-old Zoe Bruce and Clara Ong aged 8.
The competition is open to children aged between 4 and 15 years old, and each year, it receives hundreds of entries from around the world. Fifteen stories are chosen to appear in a professionally published anthology sold in Daunt Books shops across London. The winners have been invited to an award ceremony to celebrate the anthology's publication on Wednesday 15 May. The book will include a foreword written by author Sabine Adeyinka and will be illustrated David Roberts.
The school's librarian, Jennifer Ong, encouraged children from the school to enter the competition for the first time last year. She said, 'We were shocked to discover we had two winners last year. It's incredible to have three winners this year. Our children are very enthusiastic readers, which plays a huge role in developing their imaginations and vocabulary."
Joey Everett, one of the children who won the prestigious award last year, was successful again. Daunt Books commented, "We will not be surprised if, in years to come, we see the winners' names on the shelves of our fiction section. Very clearly, wonderful teaching, dedication, and support for young authors have produced a string of winning entries."
Last year, Ms Ong also entered the children into the Chiswick Book Festival's Young Person's Poetry Competition. Seven children from the school won prizes for their poems, the highest number of winning entries from any school.
Deputy Head Rachel Mardenborough said, "We are so proud of the creativity and thought behind the winning pieces, but we are most pleased that the pupils have chosen to do this in their own time. Learning the skill of writing happens within the school, but the creativity is always within; we provide the pupils with the right opportunities and medium to express it."
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