Winners of the Premier League Writing Stars poetry competition 2020 announced!

We are excited to announce that the winners of the Premier League Writing Stars poetry competition 2020 have been selected. 

Back in February, we launched the third year of the Premier League Writing Stars poetry competition. We asked pupils to write a poem based on the theme of ambition, using inspiration from the poem Beautiful Ambition, written by Karl Nova. The competition closed at the end of March and the judges have been busy reading the wonderful poems and choosing the winners. 

We would like to say a huge thank you and congratulate everyone who participated in the competition. We received over 7000 entries from primary schools across England and Wales.

Due to the current social distancing measures, our panel of judges joined by video call to discuss their favourite entries and select the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 winners. Our panel included Waterstones Children's Laureate Cressida Cowell, Leicester City Captain and Premier League winner, Wes Morgan, and our star poet and hip-hop artist Karl Nova. Judging was chaired by National Literacy Trust Chief Executive, Jonathan Douglas.

Watch the video below to get a glimpse into the lively judging discussions and to hear which poems the judges thought hit the back of the net.

Audio-described version. 

We are delighted to announce the national and regional winners of the Premier League Writing Stars competition 2020.

The Key Stage 1 National winner is India (aged 6) from The Orchard Infant school. See her poem below: 

Ambition 

Decide what you want to do,
And listen to your heart.
Believe yourself and go on,
Just listen to your heart.
Believe in yourself and listen hard,
Listen to your heart.
Be brave and don’t give up,
And listen to your heart.

By India, aged 6
The Orchard Infant School

The Key Stage 2 National winner is Jonathan (aged 10) from Engayne Primary school. See his poem below: 

Unstoppable

They punched me down
Laughed at me, mocked me
Thought I didn’t shine
Thought I couldn’t be

But I couldn’t believe them
And I didn’t believe them
Because I was unstoppable 

They ground me down
Teased me, didn’t care about me
Left me in the alley
No-one to talk to, I was unhappy.

But I couldn’t believe them
And I didn’t believe them
Because I was unstoppable

Now I’ll show them
What I can do
What they don’t know
About me, their foe

I’ve shown them
I’ve blown them away
Into the dusty day
Because I never stopped

And I won’t
And I can’t
Because I am unstoppable

By Jonathan, aged 10
Engayne Primary School

Key Stage 1 winners 

Hippos class, Loughton Manor First School, South East
Dottie, William Shrewsbury Primary School, East Midlands
Joel, Engayne Primary School, London
Class 5, South Stanley Infant and Nursery School, North East
Rafe, Delph Primary School, North West
India, The Orchard Infant School, South East (National winner)
Faith, Yealmpstone Farm Primary School, South West
Ella, West Midlands
Reece, Wales Primary School, West Midlands 

Key Stage 2 winners 

Ellie, Gosbecks Primary School, South East
Lily, Eastfield Primary School, East Midlands
Jonathan, Engayne Primary School, London (National winner)
Sophie, Harton Primary School, North East
Leo, Lily Lane Primary School, North West
Ellie, Handcross Primary School, South East
Tyler, Bridgerule Church of England Primary School, South West
Charles, C/P SCFC Community Trust, Wales
Zakariya, New Oscott Primary School, West Midlands
Kiki, Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School, Yorkshire & Humber
Niamh, Shirenewton Primary School, Wales

Head to our competition page, to find out more about the prizes and next steps. 

We have also made this the challenge available for families to try at home. We want young people and adults to write poems all about their dreams and ambitions for the future, see our free resource pack and take part in the weekly challenge. Share your poems with us on Twitter @PLCommunities and hashtag #PLPrimaryStars or email us at plprimarystars@premierleague.com.