Nottingham schools! Enter our creative writing competition for the chance to win a bespoke Eco Zone - up to the value of £750 - tailored for your school or local area, thanks to our friends at Rotary!
Participating schools will also receive a book bundle and a certificate and book of their own for a winning pupil from each school.
Every Nottingham school that signs up for a Great Green Read author event, and also plans to take part in the creative writing competition, will receive a free class set of books!
Get involved
If you're a Nottingham school and would like to get involved, simply follow the steps below:
- Sign up for one or more of the virtual Great Green Read author events:
Jackie Morris, illustrator of The Lost Words and The Lost Spells, Tuesday 17 October at 10am - register here
MG Leonard, author of the Twitch series and The Ice Children, Monday 6 November, at 10am - register here
Nicola Davies, author of The Magic of Flight, The Promise and One World, Friday 17 November at 9:30am - register here
- Check out the creative writing competition options below and choose which one you'd like to try in your school (you're welcome to choose more than one!)
- Choose one preferred title for your free set of class books from the list below (while stocks last). We will aim to send these to you before half term to inspire and support your pupils' creative writing.
I Spy My First Minibeasts - I Spy My First Wildlife - I Spy Nature Challenge - I Spy Seaside Challenge - I Spy Autumn - I Spy In the Park - Protect the Planet by Jess French - National Geographic Sustainable Energy
- Contact us to confirm you've followed the steps above and your preferred title for your class book bundle by emailing us.
- Please email us to arrange collection or posting of your creative writing entries before Friday 8th December 2023.
Creative writing competition
Choose one or more of our competition options to try in your school. You might like to try one inspired by the author event you attended.
The Great Green Escape
What would it be like to be a wild creature in Britain today? What threats does the wildlife in our country face? How would wild animals escape this danger and stay safe?
Write a short story about a British creature experiencing a narrow escape. Keep your stories to approximately 500 words or fewer.
We've put together some simple guidelines to help inspire and develop your stories, which you can download here.
Lost Words and Lost Spells
Inspired Jackie Morris’s author event.
Identify and write a description of a British mammal, bird, or insect in the style of a spell, or as an acrostic poem.
Research its key features: what colour is it? How does it move? How does it hunt/feed? Draw a picture if you wish.
Twitch
Inspired by M G Leonard’s author event.
Write a story about how the unique skills, strengths or special qualities of a British animal or plant have helped solve a problem or mystery. This could be factual, for example, how certain herbs or honey can soothe colds and sore throats, or you could let your imagination run wild and make up imaginary wildlife, their own special qualities and what they do to help save the planet.
One World: 24 Hours on Planet Earth
Inspired by Nicola Davies’ online author event.
Write an advert for a flight or journey on the back of an animal – where will they take you; what will you see; what will you do?
Great British Wildlife information board
Make an information board for a local wildlife area. Looking after the environment can start close to home, so you might want to look at your local area. Are there any areas of natural beauty around you, or places where wildlife loves to thrive?
Children can create an information board or poster to help people understand their local area, know what to look out for and how to look after it. You might be able to display the posters around the neighbourhood, or even create a real information board to display in your school grounds, local park, nature reserve or woodland.
Any questions? get in touch with us.