Scottish Book Trust has launched an exciting new writing project to encourage pupils and teachers across Scotland to write about what home means to them, with a selection of entries to be published in a free e-publication. Scotland’s Stories of Home will run from 23 March – 30 June, and in that time Scottish Book Trust wants to build a written picture of what Scotland means to the children who live here. Is it your house, your home town, your home team or your homeland? Is it your family, your friends or your online community?  Is it a smell, a taste, a sound or a sensation?

Submissions should be personal pieces of writing about real-life experiences and should be no longer than 1000 words. They can be written in a variety of different forms, such as a story, poem, song lyrics, a rap, a letter or even diary entry, and should be submitted via the Scottish Book Trust website. To help school pupils contribute their responses, Scottish Book Trust has designed a resource pack full of activity suggestions, aimed at primary and secondary school teachers and librarians who would like to use the Scotland’s Stories of Home project in their school. The resources are available at scottishbooktrust.com/storiesofhome.

With enjoyment and choice at the heart, these resources will help pupils of all abilities develop writing, research and talk skills while exploring the objects, places or concepts that mean most to them. A selection of pupils’ stories, chosen by a panel of young people, will be published in a free e-publication available to download during Book Week Scotland 2014.