Tag: writing

Developing Writing at Larbert Village PS

As part of her Masters in Early Years Pedagogy, Frances McMahon, class teacher, led recent work to develop teaching of writing in Larbert Village PS (LVPS). She and her colleagues in school defined the following aims for this work:

  • to create a shared understanding and ethos of writing across the school
  • to share good practice/engage in professional dialogue
  • to discuss plans for moderation of writing

Frances initially facilitated a collegiate meeting with colleagues to share key information about children’s development of writing. This included: why writing matters, the cognitive load required as children learn transcription and compositional skills, teachers’ responses to children’s written work, and the purposes of writing. Falkirk practitioners can view her presentation in more detail in our Literacy in Falkirk Team here.

Larbert Village PS teachers then explored different approaches to writing which included:

  1. Shared writing: helps to highlight what goes on in a writer’s head, whilst being a partner in the process
  2. Modelling writing: strategic intervention, teacher or peer modelling the process or specifics e.g. sentence structure and punctuation
  3. Guided writing: conferencing 1:1 or small group. Talking to the child about their writing as a reader not an assessor. Scaffolding them to think about the purpose/ audience help them get out what they are trying to say
  4. Building in opportunities for paired and group readings of writing for children to check they have said what they wanted to say
  5. Low stakes writing (less pressure) building to high stakes (more formal pieces of writing with success criteria)

Staff spent time during this session exploring low stakes writing and sharing current writing practice. They then agreed to use the PM Writing framework to structure their teaching of information report writing during a 5 week period so that they could then moderate the resulting pupil evidence together.

On the May in-service day teachers met with stage partners to moderate this evidence and valued seeing the progression of writing for this purpose from primary 1 – 7. The examples shared here are from primary 1, 4 and 7.  Staff used the core and information report writing targets from PM during this moderation process. When reviewing this whole writing initiative, teachers raised issues about the variation in teaching practices used, how each learning experience had been planned and the degree of scaffolding provided for pupils. They recognised that all of these factors affected the validity of their assessment and moderation of children’s evidence of writing.

As a result, next session, they will take quality time to plan their writing lessons and will moderate their planning, teaching and assessment together. Their moderation will focus on a range of pupil evidence and purposes for writing (writing genres). Throughout this work, they will apply their knowledge of the demands of writing development for children. They will build in small changes to their writing teaching practice too.

 

 

Frances and colleagues teaching primary 1 and 2 children in Larbert Village PS have adopted specific pedagogical approaches to support early development of writing.  They build on the use of Helicopter Stories in the nursery by continuing to capture children’s story-making through similar strategies.  Children sit around a delineated space and volunteer to share their improvised narrative tales. They direct fellow pupils in role as their characters to act these out while the teacher scribes the tale. In this way, children build their capacity to create characters, setting, storylines, beginnings, middles and conclusions. Their communication, vocabulary, speech and sequencing skills are all developed in a fun and non-threatening way. These are known as “Stage Stories” in LVPS and each classroom displays these tales to celebrate and share this playful, adult and child-initiated learning.

 

Foundations of Writing is also employed by teachers as a developmentally appropriate adult-directed way to scaffold children’s development of the physical skills and cognitive capacity to write. Teachers using this drawing-based programme initially encourage children to make representative line drawings which they then scribe in writing for each child. These drawings depict not only the way things look to the children, but also less tangible information such as the movement of things being shown.

The teacher gradually initiates or directs children to increasingly detailed drawings/depictions of events and stories. As they draw increasingly complex and detailed lines, shapes, and patterns, children develop the fine motor skills and muscle stamina to make the transition to letter formation. When “telling” their picture/story to the teacher/adult who is scribing for them they understand the symbolic and representative nature of mark-making and begin to connect phonemes and graphemes in a gradual and natural way.

 

Frances and colleagues observe each child’s progress carefully to identify when their letter-formation and blending becomes reliable enough for them to write independently.

To read another post about Foundations of Writing click here.

 

 

 

Literacy and Digital Tools Professional Learning Resources Now Available

Falkirk Literacy Team colleagues and Kerry Abercrombie, DigiLearn Falkirk Support Officer have been co-delivering professional learning about digital tools which support learners’ literacy skills since 2020. We responded to teachers’ requests for guidance on which digital tools might help remove literacy and/or curriculum barriers for their pupils. The training sessions shared digital tools which we felt could be vital to the learning of some children and young people but also valuable to all (helping to close gaps and improve equity). These training sessions have been very well attended and  evaluated by teachers, early years officers and senior leaders across our Forth Valley & West Lothian Regional Improvement Collaborative (FVWLRIC).

We are delighted to share Kerry’s one-stop-shop link (click on the picture above) and QR code below which leads to the support pages where she has collated the materials from each session . The landing page enables you to learn about digital tools for reading, writing, creating, presenting or for learners with English as an Additional Language.

Each page includes:

  • The Powerpoint slides from the session
  • A recording of the session
  • A description of the digital tools and how they support learners’ literacy
  • Demonstration videos
  • Ideas and suggestions for ways in which the tools can support literacy learning

 

 

Our annual Writing Week – Writing for Pleasure at Bonnybridge Primary School

Writing Week has been an annual event at Bonnybridge for the last four years. It has grown from an idea to encourage children to enjoy writing to a highly anticipated time of year which many of our children look forward to.

Raising attainment in writing was a school improvement priority, so as well as focusing on how we teach writing throughout the year, we wanted to raise the status of writing as something, like reading, which could be done for pleasure. The guiding principles of Writing Week are that pupils have choice over their genre and content, and that they are equipped with the necessary skills to start to see themselves as a novice author who has responsibility for taking their piece of writing through the writer’s process, from an idea, through drafts, editing and revision, to a final published piece.

Writing Week looks different across the school as we have developed the initial idea to suit the age and stage of the children. In P1 and 2, the classes take a storybook approach which fits naturally into our play pedagogy. The children are given opportunities to take part in tasks related to a variety of books which encourage their oral, pictorial and written story-telling skills.

From P3 – P7, the children work to a greater or lesser extent on taking their piece of writing through the writer’s process. Each day of the week is allocated to Ideas and Planning, first draft, editing and revision, final drafts and publication. Idea generation, planning and the first draft are completed using a quick write strategy. We use this method in order to remove any potential transcriptional barriers. The pupils are encouraged to let their ideas flow and if they are unsure of a spelling or choice of vocabulary they ‘circle it out’, meaning that they draw a circle around the word or phrase knowing that they will have the opportunity later in the week to revise and edit their work.

As the week progresses, the writing becomes more deliberate and slows in pace with a focus on accuracy. We have found that reinforcing the concept of a first draft for all age groups has stimulated a shift in attitude towards writing and has helped to remove some of the writing anxiety or writer’s block that some children have experienced in the past.

As the years have progressed, the children have become more and more excited and engaged in writing week and this has had an increasingly positive impact on the attainment in writing throughout the year. The children respond well to having more ownership and choice over their writing and the teachers have enjoyed the opportunity to develop Writing Week within their classrooms using the guiding principles.

This year, many of the teachers identified a need to enhance our publication process and have been developing digital publication using sites such as Canva. Please click to see an example from one of our P2 classes or use the QR code below.

 

 

 

 

Supporting Attainment in Literacy at Stenhousemuir PS – Our use of Read Write Inc

Catharine Gillespie is the raising attainment teacher in Stenhousemuir PS and, with the support of her principal teacher Dawn Easton, she is leading the use of Read Write Inc Phonics (RWI) from primary 1- 4  as a key support for progressing pupils’ reading, writing and spelling. The Read Write Inc Phonics programme is produced by Oxford University Press and Catharine was trained as a reading leader via the Ruth Miskin training programme. All teachers using the programme in Stenhousemuir PS have also been trained and Catharine provides ongoing professional learning and support for them. This training comprises the first three steps of a seven-step RWI programme which also includes:

 

  1. Rigorous assessment, tracking and monitoring
  2. Grouping children for maximum progress based on the above assessment
  3. Making consistent use of teaching strategies and pedagogy which encourages children’s best learning behaviours
  4. Supporting parents and carers so that they can contribute to their child’s progress

What impact on literacy learning is the use of this programme having?

The current primary 5 children at Stenhousemuir have been developing their literacy skills through this programme since primary 1 and there has been significant improvement in their attainment as a result. Most children across the school are on track with their learning with only a small number needing additional interventions to support their learning differences. Catharine notes that more children are achieving more quickly and measures this impact by comparing the attainment of current primary 2 children with those of previous primary 2 classes prior to using the programme. She attributes this impact to:

  1. Close Assessment of children’s progress:

Catharine assesses all children at 6-8 week intervals to determine where they are in their learning. Using the assessment resources within the programme, she identifies the consolidation opportunities and new learning needed then adjusts the groups which the children learn within to provide the correct degree of challenge for them.

2. Grouping of children:

Primary one children experience the programme within the adult-directed literacy element of their learning day. Fred the frog is introduced to children (the character used to engage children) and then used as a focus for structured teaching strategies across the programme. From January the children are grouped across both primary 1 classes and learn their initial sounds visually through the “Fred Talk and Fred Fingers” procedures, rhymes and visual clues. These procedures are taught in primary 1 and are then used consistently by all teachers working with groups across the school. From primary 2 upwards, Catharine groups the children using their assessment information within mixed class groups. She allocates each group to a teacher and a learning space within the school. The Read Write Inc sessions take place during an hour between play time and lunch time Monday to Thursday of each week. Catherine ensures that no child works in a classroom space which is below their actual primary stage.

3. Pedagogy and teaching strategies used:

The initial training guides teachers’ use of interactive, consistent routines for each part of the daily RWI sessions. Catharine and colleagues use these effectively to ensure that ways of working remain familiar and constant so that children can focus on the new learning. Each literacy session includes the Fred talk exploration of the new sound and teachers make this as multi-sensory and accessible as they can through their dialogue and interaction with their group of children. The Fred Fingers strategy involves children pinching their fingers in time with each of the sounds they hear in each word they see and learn. The teachers use flash cards with words which contain each new sound and a selection of review sounds, in a familiar routine with their whole group.

The RWI 1 hour sessions are focussed, with the actual activities  and ways of working changing every 15 minutes or so to support children’s focus and engagement. There is:

  • Always a review of the learning from the previous day’s work,
  • Introduction of the new sound and flash cards as above
  • Review of previously taught sounds
  • Writing of the letters, sounds and words learned
  • 3 readings of the text identified for the group (more detail below)
  • A quiz/differentiated comprehension questions
  • Linked writing opportunities at appropriate levels
  • Proofread and editing tasks
  • Grammar and vocabulary challenges
  • Longer writing tasks which enable children to apply their writing skills more creatively

The children are prepared for reading by learning the decodable and tricky words they will encounter in the story. They have a lively and engaging story introduction which builds enthusiasm for reading the text and puts the story into a context. Then they do paired reading – each child reading it again in turn. When listening to each other, the children use a lollipop stick as a pointer to guide their partner’s reading. After the first read, they have the text read by the teacher to model confident, fluent and expressive reading. Read two develops fluency and read three focusses on comprehension of the text and voice choice to match

The whole philosophy is that children are given every skill they need to be successful in their reading before they begin. As the children progress in their reading, the levels of challenge in vocabulary increase, as does the length of the text.

All of these activities support children’s ability to:

  • de-code the text
  • develop their reading fluency
  • link the phonemes with their corresponding graphemes
  • form the graphemes and
  • use the graphemes correctly when spelling.

The texts also have comprehension questions which increase in quantity and difficulty as children move through the levels of the programme.

The Ruth Miskin training programme includes the specification of pedagogical/classroom management techniques which support children’s learning behaviours and attitudes. These promote a calm, ordered, focused learning environment and familiar routines and ways of working. Teachers at Stenhousemuir PS use these actions rather than their voices to manage the different procedures involved in each literacy lesson. For example, children learn that when the teacher raises their hand this means it’s time to stop what they are doing and listen for instruction. When moving from one activity or group to another, teachers use a 1, 2, 3 finger signal to manage children’s standing, moving and sitting. These techniques have been so successful that they have become adopted throughout the teaching day for all classes.

What do the children think of this literacy learning?

When asked for their opinions of their teachers’ use of this programme children in two learning groups said:

“It’s not hard or easy” gave thumbs up sign with smile “it’s medium.”

“It’s helping me learn.”

“I like the books – they are nice and good. I feel like I am learning all of the words.”

“The lolly stick helps me see all of the words.”

“ I love Read Write Inc because it helps me to read fast.” – P2

“You have to work hard to learn all of the sounds” – P1

“I read my home reading book to my mum and she is proud of me!” – P3

The teachers feel that as the programme moves up through its levels, it supports specific literacy skills and understanding such as children’s knowledge of alternative spellings for similar sounds and their capacity to proof read and edit their writing. Catharine feels that their use of the programme offers their children small, measured steps to success leading to independent working and the ability to apply literacy skills purposefully across the curriculum.

How are teachers adapting and using this programme for their children?

When reviewing their use of RWI, teachers at Stenhousemuir agreed on adaptations to their use of the programme. This included:

  • Adapting the assessments provided to be more focussed
  • Adding in a Fred Star of the Day award to the child who’d engaged, progressed or contributed well to the daily RWI hour
  • Changing the classroom  literacy displays weekly to reflect the learning focus
  • Enabling children to take Fred home for the weekend (a child in each group does this and provides a simple diary insert for Fred’s adventure book).

On Fridays children’s literacy hour happens with their own class in their own room. Teachers use elements of PM Writing to teach varied and creative writing lessons  which enable children to apply the learning they’ve acquired over the previous week.

Ongoing Development and Next Steps

To complement their use of the RWI programme, teachers are also supporting primary 6 and 7 children to catch up on any gaps in their learning by using the RWI Fresh Start programme. Children work in small groups to develop and consolidate their literacy skills, using texts which have a more age appropriate interest level.

Upon seeing the impact of Read Write Inc Phonics in the lower school, the school invested in the Read Write Inc Literacy and Language programme for Primary 4-7 children. This forms part of a language rich curriculum which develops children’s reading and understanding in different genres and builds upon the work done in the phonics programme.

Engaging Parents

It was decided that maximum impact on learning could be gained through the purchase and use of  RWI text collections of home readers and speed sound booklets. In conjunction with information night opportunities for parents and carers, these booklets enable parents and carers to support their child’s reading homework tasks. The home readers are matched with the taught content of the RWI texts used in school to ensure that children will experience success while reading. Similarly, the speed sound books enable parents and carers to engage in fun consolidation of their child’s knowledge of their taught sounds at home.

Parents and carers have been very positive about these developments, but Catharine and colleagues at Stenhousemuir PS now want to build on this initial parental involvement in their children’s literacy. They would love to attract or recruit more parental helpers who can work with children in their learning groups.

In summary, staff use of the Read, Write Inc Phonics programme at Stenhousemuir PS is engaging learners, improving reading attainment and enabling children to progress their literacy skills at an appropriate pace. Catharine would be delighted to speak with colleagues wanting to know more, and an information/sharing opportunity will be scheduled via Falkirk CPD Manager before Easter 2024.

Supporting Pupils’ Literacy Progress at Hallglen PS

Over the past 2 school years, staff at Hallglen PS have developed how they support children with their literacy progress. They have identified a selection of programmes and processes which enable them to tailor interventions to children’s individual needs. Diane Ramage, principal teacher, and Samantha Nash, support for learning teacher have also worked with staff colleagues and children to establish new ways of working. This includes the creation of a new support for learning space and the adoption of a range of literacy materials and activities which their support for learning assistant can use with children.

Which Interventions are being used?

The programmes and interventions being used will be familiar to colleagues, and include:

  • Read, Write Inc Phonics (for p 2-5)
  • Read Write Inc Fresh Start (for P 6 & 7)
  • Reading Recovery Wave 3
  • Nessy
  • Story Club
  • Use of tracking and monitoring data to inform specific intervention plans for children
  • Regular dialogue between class teachers, support for learning teacher, support for learning assistant and school leaders
  • Timetabled blocks of literacy support – 6-8 weeks
  • Liaison with Jude Davies, Support Teacher Specific Learning differences
  • Use of the Falkirk Literacy Pathway

How are these being employed?

Sam began to use Read Write Inc Fresh Start last session to help identified groups of children in primary 5, 6 and 7 to raise their reading attainment and build their confidence in reading. Initially this involved 21 pupils but the group gradually dwindled as more and more children “caught up” with their peers and no longer needed specific support. This programme was so successful that less than a third of this original group of children now require support with their reading.

In response to their observation of this impact on the children involved, Diane and Sam planned how to continue to use the Fresh Start programme with children in primary 6 and 7. In order to intervene earlier, Sam also trialled the Read Write Inc Phonics programme to support children in primary 2 – 5.

Both Read Write Inc programmes are helping children to learn the sounds which they need to read successfully. The children benefit from the use of the programme’s flash cards. These support explicit teaching of the links between the visual form of the letter/sound, its memorable and explanatory rhyme and the repetition and consolidation of the sound itself. The pedagogy employed by Sam and colleagues scaffolds the children’s ability to recall their sounds swiftly as they read – gradually enabling them to both de-code and increase their fluency and confidence.

Children progress through the Fresh Start programme at an appropriate pace and the intense, structured approach is re-engaging children with learning to read and reading to learn. Impact on reading for enjoyment is becoming visible also. This is evidenced by children’s voluntary participation in the Story Club initiative which Sam has started to run at lunchtime once a week. This initiative is an intervention designed to support issues with reading skills at the primary 2 stage.

Children choose to opt into Story Club and each session involves her in reading a story to the children then offering an related activity (currently adult initiated). Twenty eight children came to the first session and numbers remain high at this early stage of this initiative. Sam noted the attendance of one child in particular who, following his use of the Phonics programme, is beginning to master reading. This child previously hated and avoided reading so his choosing to attend Story Club evidences a huge change in his attitude to this essential skill.

Diane, Sam and colleagues regularly analyse their tracking data and other intelligence relating to their learners’ reading and literacy progress. They have instigated a 6 week assessment cycle which informs timetable and menu of support changes every 6 – 8 weeks.  This regular review of where children are enables more accurate selection of interventions for children and more intense, structured support.  In addition school processes enable class teachers to liaise with Sam at any point to explore how best to support their pupils.

Staff at Hallglen PS are also using the Nessy online platform and resources in a number of ways. Primary 6 and 7 pupils at Hallglen access Nessy online learning routinely using their digital devices. Sam noted that this independent, on demand access was not possible for primary 4 and 5 children because they don’t yet have individual devices. She set up 4 iPad word spaces within the Support for Learning classroom and primary 4 and 5 pupils now come regularly to use these independently to support their reading and spelling skill development. Teachers are also making use of individual children’s Nessy spelling targets to support more accurate differentiation of spelling tasks. Staff plan to explore other parts of the Nessy platform to consider further applications which may be valuable for their children.

As part of her To Lead or Not to Lead professional learning, Sam is working with primary 2 teacher colleagues to gather data about the comparative impact of the Read Write Inc Phonics and North Lanarkshire Active Literacy programmes on children’s reading. The outcomes of these studies will inform how these literacy interventions are used to support children’s progress in future.

Review and Next Steps

Diane, Sam and colleagues feel that their support for learning processes and intervention “package” has been transformative for their school and children. They have a “menu” of support which is responsive, pacey and is raising children’s confidence and ability to read. By making use of data, intelligence, professional dialogue, assessment and timetabling in combination with effective pedagogy and programmes, they are raising their children’s attainment in, and enjoyment of reading. They plan to consolidate this focus on reading while integrating development of spelling and writing to extend and enrich their menu of literacy support for their children. Diane, Sam and colleagues are rightly proud of their “package” of support for literacy learning and look forward to continuing its development for the benefit of their children.

 

Kickstart literacy for 2nd level pupils using brilliant NewsWise resources

Slide from Lesson 1 PowerPoint resource

NewsWise is a free, cross-curricular news literacy project for 7-to-11-year-olds across the UK. It is designed to help children develop their critical literacy skills within a real-life Journalist Training School context. The whole unit consists of 15 lessons which allow pupils to develop, consolidate and apply reading, talking and listening and writing skills in an holistic way. The real-life, “world of work” journalism context is an engaging way for teachers to help their second level pupils to understand, critically navigate and report real news. As well as developing most of the main CfE literacy organisers and sub-organisers, it also integrates essential learning within Technologies and Health and Wellbeing (Mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing). Find out more and download this free resource by clicking here. It includes:

  • curriculum-based lesson plans
  • posters and all necessary resources for the lessons
  • exciting school workshops
  • opportunities to speak to real journalists.

NewsWise was funded by Google, and developed by the National Literacy Trust in partnership with the Guardian Foundation and the PSHE Association.

Applying Literacy Skills in a Celebration of Burns and Scottish Heritage – Some Support Materials

Scottish Flags Clipart | Free Images at Clker.com - vector clip art online, royalty free & public domain

Literacy Team colleagues from our Falkirk Service and School Improvement Team have created a learning grid of literacy-led activities which can be used by school colleagues to support their remote learning planning and teaching in January 2021. Judith Davies and Louise Amos created the grid and sourced the many useful links and engaging learning activities it offers. Click on the image above to open the grid and click here to view the activity sheets.

The Scottish Book Trust also have resources linked to Scotland/Burns click here to view the resources Tweeted @Bookbug_SBT – Learn about Rabbie’s life as a boy, colour in a wee, sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie and discover the meaning of some braw #Scots words in this activity pack from @VisitScotland

Image

East Ayrshire Council also shared a Google Robert Burns Birthplace Virtual Classroom link available here.

Developing the Thinking Reader Approach at Larbert Village Primary School

As part of their Larbert cluster focus on reading skills, Laura Robinson and Claire Morrison have been developing the Thinking Reader approach with colleagues at Larbert Village PS over the last 3 school sessions. Laura and Claire had both used this approach themselves previously and recognised its value for developing children’s reading skills, engagement in and enjoyment of reading. Both volunteered to jointly lead the literacy working group who were focusing on reading in their school.

Year 1 was about raising staff awareness and offering training opportunities to build staff confidence in using the Thinking Reader approach. One of the most valuable activities was the creation of a Thinking Reader resource booklet which staff made together. This booklet has proven to be a very useful tool which helps everyone plan their Thinking Reader units of work. Staff were so enthusiastic about using the approach that they took advantage of opportunities to observe and shadow Laura and Claire during Thinking Reader lessons.

Teachers noticed that the approach was having a whole range of impacts on children’s reading:

  • Increased understanding of the text
  • Greater engagement with the text
  • Raised the profile of reading across the school
  • Obvious enjoyment of the text and a real sense of how valued each text was (Book Bug books were used as Thinking Readers and became very precious to the children – they could not wait to share their book with family members – parents and relatives still comment on how often the children want to read these books at home)

This first year went so well that a  showcase event was held at the end of National Book Week to celebrate reading and share the Thinking Reader approach with parents. The Thinking Reader questions developed by staff have been turned into a poster with questions which parents can use at home when reading with their children. Laura and Claire see this as a valuable tool which they can share with parents when they ask for specific ways to support their child’s reading

Using feedback from colleagues, Laura and Claire set about increasing the range of texts available for use with this approach. Through working group research and collaboration texts were identified, then gathered to create Thinking Reader resource libraries (Book Fair and PEF funding also supported these purchases). 2018-19 focused on acquiring age-appropriate picture book texts for use with primary 4-7 pupils. Teachers felt that these texts would be accessible so that all pupils could develop their reading skills in addition to enjoying and being engaged with the texts.

Different teachers have chosen to capture/collect the learning resulting from their Thinking Readers in variety of ways. Floor books, folders, jotters and wall displays all proved useful ways to share in school plus effective use of Twitter for parents and a wider education audience. Claire’s primary 2 class were particularly inspired by a fictional book about a pink penguin – their Thinking Reader developed into a whole series of pink penguin toy adventures and the creation of a penguin rucksack which went home with the penguin each weekend.

This literacy development of the Thinking Reader approach has been successful for a host of reasons: effective peer support and collaboration; use of display and other methods of sharing; making sure that the approach is used consistently across the school; ensuring skills progression within and across stages. Laura and Claire feel that it has been a very positive journey for the whole staff, and that they can see a real increase in pupil engagement and enjoyment of reading using this approach. The Thinking Reader approach makes comprehension creative and fun so that the children enjoy taking part in the activities and progressing their literacy skills.

Writing Rammy

The Writing Rammy is open to everyone, regardless of age or writing experience – everyone has a story in them!

Taking part is easy:  all you need to do is write a short piece of original fiction or poetry on a theme of your choice and email it in.

About the Writing Rammy

  • Simply send your entries to our dedicated email address, with your contact details to  writingrammy@falkirkcommunitytrust.org
  • Alternatively typed entries can be handed into any library in the Falkirk district by the closing date.
  • Your entry should clearly state your name, age, address, tel. no, and email address or your school and form class.
  • The word limit is 250 words for under 15s, or up to 500 words for 15 and over.
  • The competition is open now and the closing date is Saturday 18th August 2018
  • Please read the terms and conditions for the competition at: http://www.falkirkcommunitytrust.org/libraries/writing-rammy/writing-rammy-rules.aspx , or view them in your local library

Entries will be judged by a panel from the library service and a winner and runner up will be chosen in each of the following categories:

  • 7 and under
  • 8-11
  • 12-14
  • 15-17
  • 18+
  • Best Family Entry

Winners will be announced mid- September and invited to a special winners’ ceremony on 11th October 2018 during National Libraries Week.

Pupil Entries

If pupils would like to participate, their class teacher can email in several entries at once, but please make sure each entry clearly states the pupil’s name, age and form class.

 

 

Can you write a story in just 50 words?

The Scottish Book Trust runs a writing competition every month inviting you to write a story in 50 words! They provide a prompt for a story to get you started.

The competition includes the following categories:

  • Young Writers 5-11
  • Young Writer 12-18.

The entries will be judged by a panel and the winning stories will be published on the Scottish Book Trust’s website two weeks after the closing date.

Prizes are awarded to a writer in each category:

  • Young Writers 5-11: A fun selection of books.
  • Young Writers 12-18: A great selection of books

Find out more here