A poetry competition by Premier League #PLWritingStars #ad

We at BritMums can’t be the only ones to have had lumps in our throats during the recent Premier League Primary Star’s advertising campaign which features primary school children and international footballers reciting the William Hickson poem “Try, try again”, below. The video publicises the Premier League Primary Stars initiative, aimed to give resources and support to schools throughout the country – it has, impressively, since its launch in March, signed up more than 10,000 schools.

And now they have a writing competition about one of the most important qualities teachers say kids can have.

 

 

The point of Primary Stars has been to tackle and add value to curriculum basics such as numeracy and literacy and, to that end, its Writing Stars poetry competition, has been announced. It’s open to all school children between the ages of 5 and 11!

Poetry about resilience

Taking its cue from “Try, try again”, the theme of the entries for the poetry competition is resilience – one of the most important characteristics that teachers and parents can help to build within children but one that is often overlooked. “Resilience is something every footballer certainly knows about,” says retired international mid-fielder turned children’s author, Frank Lampard. “Encouraging children to think about what it means to persevere and keep trying is a hugely valuable life lesson.”

The judges: Sportsmen & authors you love

Frank will be one of the judges of Writing Stars together with Charlie and Lola and Clarice Bean creator, Lauren Child, the poet Caleb Femi (check out his TED talk here: http://www.calebfemi.com/work#2), Yannick Bolasie, the Everton winger and Congo international who, off the pitch, has been hosting MC battles for the past few years (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0MVbOc-ibg) and Jonathan Douglas of the National Literacy Trust.

 

 

How to enter the poetry competition

The competition is open to all schools in England and Wales and categories will be divided by age between children in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. There will be 20 finalists – one from each age category in each of 10 regions – which will all be published in a special Writing Stars book and, in January, 1 overall winner will be chosen from the finalists in each age category.

Benefits for schools

Even if a pupil doesn’t make it to the finals, schools can still win the chance to host writing workshops led by well-known authors or welcome a visiting Premier League footballer.

Children have until 22 December to submit entries through their schools and part of the point of the competition is to broaden the perceptions of poetry. “Poetry can be fun and can take many forms including song lyrics and raps,” says Yannick. “I hope that by seeing the different names involved in the campaign it will inspire children to create their own poetry, in whatever form they like.”

If you’re interested – or know some primary school children or schools who might be – then visit www.plprimarystars.com to find out more.

Find out how pupils can take part and win money-can’t-buy prizes. 

 

This post is sponsored by Premier League.

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