Premier League Writing Stars Poetry competition 2020

The Premier League Writing Stars poetry competition 2020 is now closed

We are excited to announce the winners of this year's poetry competition and reveal the fantastic prizes on offer. Have a read below to find out more about the prizes and the next steps.

This year's theme encouraged children to think of their dreams for the future and understand that dreams and aspirations are valuable and that they can be achieved.

Head to our news story to find out who the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 national winners were and a list of the regional winners from this year's poetry competition.

You can also read the winning poems and watch a video to get a sneak peek into how the judges made their decision.

Key information

• The competition is now closed. This competition took place from Tuesday 4 February 2020 until Friday 20 March 2020.
• Judging took place during May 2020 and winners have been contacted.
• There were two age categories – one for pupils in Key Stage 1 and one for those in Key Stage 2, and two language categories – English and Welsh.
• Individual or group entries were allowed for Key Stage 1, only individual entries for Key Stage 2.
• Poems had to be no more than 20 lines or 150 words and be on the theme of ambition.
• Pupils could continue the Beautiful Ambition or start a new poem. Poems could be of any structure.
• Entries were shared with partners such as the National Literacy Trust for the purposes of judging.

Prizes

There will be a top national prize and 10 regional prizes for each category (Key stage 1 and Key stage 2), and a special limited-edition Writing Stars poetry book featuring the submissions of all national and regional winners will be released later in 2020.

 There will also be prizes for the best entries in Welsh at Key stage 1 and Key stage 2.

Prizes for national winners:

• A visit to your school by a children’s author or poet to lead a poetry workshop, plus the Premier League Trophy!

Prizes for regional winners and national winners:

• An invitation to a celebration event
• The winning poems featured in an illustrated book of Premier League Writing Stars poems
• A framed version of the winning poems

There were also some brilliant bags full to the brim with poetry books up for grabs for the first 500 schools who submit entries! These will be dispatched when schools reopen in September. 

Poems were judged on their creative merits. Primary age children develop their skills in writing, spelling and punctuation as they go through school and poems will not be disqualified for errors in handwriting, spelling or punctuation.

The judges made their decision based on the following:

• Vocabulary should be relevant to the theme of ambition, dreams and hopes for the future
• An appropriate tone
• Poetry – figurative speech and devices to build a picture in the reader’s mind in a creative and effective way. For example, alliteration, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, symbolism.
• Elements of poetry – words chosen for effect, a sense of structure, clever use of rhythm, purposeful use of rhyme, (although not all poems have to rhyme).
• Effect – does the poem celebrate ambition? Does the theme of ambition come across?
• Originality – does this entry stand out from the rest? Is it original and unique?
• Appeal – will it appeal to other primary-age pupils?

You can watch the video to see how the judges made their decision on the Writing Stars news story. 

If you would like to access the competition packs, click on the links below to download the many resources, including lesson ideas, activity sheets, and inspirational videos. You can also download Karl Nova's fantastic poem as a poster for your classroom. All you need to do is register - it's free and really quick to do.

Premier League Writing Stars: Ambition KS1
Premier League Writing Stars: Ambition KS2
Premier League Writing Stars: Ambition KS1(welsh)
Premier League Writing Stars: Ambition KS2 (welsh)

You might also be interested in our other English poetry packs – have a look at our Key Stage 1 resource Matchday Magic and our Premier League Reading Stars resource, Poetry Slam, for pupils in upper Key Stage 2.

We have also created a special resource pack so that families can access some of the resources at home and take part in the weekly challenge.  We want young people and adults to write poems all about their dreams and ambitions for the future and share with us on Twitter @PLCommunities, #PLPrimaryStars or email us at plprimarystars@premierleague.com.