St George’s Day Poetry Competition

This competition is open to pupils in schools in Cumbria, and will be judged by Brian Patten. To see guidance from Brian, and to read one of his own poems that relates to the theme of the competition, follow the link on the left to 'Judge's Advice'.

There will be prize winners for four different age groups as follows:

Key Stage 1 (ages 5-7)

Key Stage 2 (ages 7-11)

Key Stage 3 (ages 11-14)

Key Stage 4 (ages 14-16)

Prizes = £10 book token for the winning entry in each age group.

In addition, the best entry overall will win £100 for their school.   

Each school may submit 2 entries, perhaps prize winners from their own internal competition.

Themes:

Encountering the Dragon

This could be directly related to the stories of St George, and could explore the layers of meanings which have been associated with him, under his various names and identities in different faiths and traditions. Or it might involve thinking about what the dragon might represent in modern times.

My England

A personal response to England or to a part of England or to feelings about being English. This could explore a young person’s sense of belonging to a particular place, perhaps with an exploration of how this links to a shared national identity - that of being English and/or living in England. It could involve an exploration of Englishness in terms of more abstract concepts like values and attitudes and of the likelihood of commonality in other national identities and in other countries.

We Are One and We Are Many

Reflections on the diversity of the English population, now or in the past. This could involve an exploration of the nature of different localities that illustrate the diversity and complexity of English identities and cultures as well as exploring the similarities.

Closing Date:  27^th April.   Please submit entries electronically to stgeorgesdayproject@googlemail.com 

Please make sure each entry is accompanied by the entrant’s name, age, year group and school.