Between the lines: Portico competition nurtures a new generation of writers
In the Spring Term several Second and Third Year pupils submitted entries to the Portico Sadie Massey Awards competition.
The competition aims to encourage a life-long love of reading and writing in young people. Third Years entered book reviews while Second wrote short stories set in the North of England.
The Portico Library, a hub of literature in Manchester, founded in 1806, received hundreds of entries from schools all around the UK, as well as from overseas.
Second Year Lottie really enjoyed the experience of entering the competition, commenting that she loved the opportunity of “writing about a place of importance in an imaginative, creative way.” Another pupil reflected that the “Portico competition offered us a chance to display our writing to the wider community. It was a tremendous opportunity – truly unrivalled.”
Although none of our pupils won a specific award this time, the quality of their entries was superb, and the Portico offered them a free creative workshop as thanks for their efforts.
This workshop took place in May and was led by Martin Griffin, a former deputy head, English GCSE examiner and published writer of fiction for children and adults. The workshop was extremely well received by the pupils; they particularly enjoyed learning new story writing techniques, such as starting in the middle. One pupil fed back that it was one of the best workshops they had ever done at SGS!
Well done to all of the pupils who worked so hard on their competition entries.
