Premier League Writing Stars winners announced!

Last year we ran the Premier League Writing Stars poetry competition where we asked pupils from across England and Wales to send us their poems based on the theme of resilience.

With support from professional football clubs, current and former players and stars from the entertainment world, the response was incredible and we received over 25,000 poems!

This meant our judging panel had a very tough challenge in deciding on the winning entries. The panel included Children's Laureate and Charlie and Lola author, Lauren Child, former Premier League footballer and children's author, Frank Lampard, Everton footballer and lyricist, Yannick Bolasie and the Young People's Laureate for London, Caleb Femi. Head judge was Jonathan Douglas from the National Literacy Trust.

We would like to congratulate everyone who took part and are delighted to announce the national and regional winners as follows:

Olivia, Ysgol Brynffordd School, Wales, KS1
Brecon, Shirenewton Primary School, Wales, KS2
William, Netherton Infant & Nursery School, Yorkshire and the Humber, KS1
Thomas, Norristhorpe Junior and Infant School, Yorkshire and the Humber, KS2
Lauren, Poringland Primary School and Nursery, East of England, KS1
Juan, Peartree Spring Primary School, East of England, KS2
Ella, Edward Francis Primary School, East of England, KS2
Class 6, South Stanley Infant and Nursery School, North East, KS1
Kyle, Newcastle School for Boys, North East, KS2
Aashvi, Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, North West, KS1
Matilda, Smallwood CofE Primary School, North West, KS2
Naina, William Levick Primary School, East Midlands, KS1
Callum, Westglade Primary School, East Midlands, KS2
Amy, Brockswood Primary School, South East, KS1
Eve, Alleyns School, London, KS2
Evie, The Prince of Wales School, South West, KS1
Elizabeth, Ramsbury Primary School, South West, KS2
Lydia, Thursfield Primary School, West Midlands, KS1
Reeha, Galton Valley Primary SchoolWest Midlands, KS2
Sadie, The Hermitage School, South East, KS2 - National winner
Amelie, Blackheath Preparatory School, London, KS1 - National winner

You can read the winning poems below!

My mum’s battle

Just lie down and cry
She would never say
Be resilient
Just give up and die
She wouldn’t ever
Try to tolerate the fatigue
Instead she would
Walk away in pain
I know she wouldn’t
Show a Mum’s true endurance
The thing she wants to do is
Give up when things go wrong
It is not okay to say
She will not fight this disease
I think that
You shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that
Cancer can be looked at another way
My mum has cancer

(Now read from the bottom to the top)

By Sadie, aged 11
(The Hermitage School)

Monkey bars

Monkey bars in the playground
High off the ground.
At first I was scared
Just hanging there
I felt unprepared.

“Mummy!” I would shout
“Please come and help me out!”
Every day I would climb back on
Swinging and falling
Then trying again until everyone was gone.

Slowly my arms got stronger
As I stayed on for longer
Now I love to cross from one side to the other
But this time
Without any help from my Mamma.

By Amelie, aged 6
(Blackheath Prepatory School)

The judges selected 20 highly commended poems as well as the overall winners for each age group:

Tyler, Ysgol Sarn Bach
Samuel , Ravenhurst Primary School
Faye, Padiham Primary School
Gabriel, Bitterley CofE Primary School (Aided)
Isla, The Prince of Wales School
Megan , Allenton Community Primary School
Fern, William Levick Primary School
Maya, Shirenewton Primary School
Mia, Short Wood Primary School
Ruby, Waycroft Academy
Sammy, Ramsbury Primary School
Omari, Crownfield Junior School
Sophie, North Waltham Primary School
Ben, Chetwynd Primary Academy
Libon, SS Peter and Paul RC Primary
Xenon, The Firs Primary School
Jake, Newcastle School for Boys
Charlie, Valley Gardens Middle School
Jessica, Ossett South Parade Primary

Regional and national winners’ poems will be featured alongside those from some familiar faces in a specially published Premier League Writing Stars book illustrated by David Mackintosh.

To find out more about the competition, visit the Premier League Writing Stars competition page.