Some of the winning entries are attached to the bottom of this page! 

The competition this year has again been very successful. We received 111 entries from 51 schools across England and Wales. These broke down into 39 stories from Year 7 pupils, 41 from Year 8 pupils and 31 from Year 9 pupils. Their stories came from all periods and places in the past; they ranged from Ancient Egypt to post war Europe and the July bombings in London. The quality of stories was best from Year 7 and from Year 9, who in particular wrote shorter and more controlled stories. Pupils in Year 8 tended to write very long, over ambitious stories and the judges decided to award only one of the two prizes available to this year group. Instead a third award was made to Year 9. In some cases pupils had clearly worked as a Year group writing stories set in a particular period, in others as members of a history club or as part of the provision for gifted and talented pupils; whilst some had written entirely on their own. All were remarkably creative.

A judging panel of Dave Martin, Beth Brooke, Fiona Ray (teacher at Dorchester Middle School) and four pupils from Dorchester Middle met on Saturday 13^th June in the Dorset County Museum to read and discuss the short listed stories.

In the best stories pupils deliberately drew upon the historical fiction writer's devices to write well. They had clearly been explicitly taught how to do this. And then they went on to root their interesting characters, settings and plot convincingly in the past. They drew upon their historical knowledge and understanding to establish a strong sense of period, but without the history becoming obtrusive. They wrote stories that were enjoyable to read.

Winners

Year 7

‘The Love Thief of Rome' by Mayowa Oriowo, Peniel Academy, Brentwood, Essex.

‘A Greek Adventure' by Harry Wilkins, Lichfield Cathedral School, Lichfield, Staffs.

Year 8

‘The Outcast, the victim and me: the diary of Maria Lmabl' by Jessica Patton, Tibshelf Community School, Derbyshire.

Year 9

‘Bloody Hands' by Eden Munday, Blatchington Mill School, Hove.

‘A German Without a Name' by George Westlake, Lytchett Minster School, Poole, Dorset.

‘Life of a Ranger' by Laurence Wooldridge, Cranbourne Business & Enterprise College, Basingstoke.

Short listed /Highly commended

Year 7

‘The Great Voyage' by Henrietta Blohm, Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls, Monmouth.

‘The Taste of Apricots' by Alex Jones, Fairfield High School, Peterfield, Herefordshire.

‘Curium Crisis' by Lucy Calcutt, St John's School, Episkopi, Cyprus.

‘The Mystery of the Missing Mosaic' by Louise Ola, Peniel Academy, Brentwood, Essex.

Year 8

‘Asps of Egypt' by Chloe Agar, Caedmon School, Whitby, North Yorkshire.

‘Life in Chains' by Charlotte Stockton, The Mount School, York.

‘Evelyn' by Sian Shannon-Sinclair, Parkside Community College, Cambridge.

‘The Ghosts don't exist' by Ella Mawson, Ilfracombe Arts College, Devon.

Year 9

‘Because of Mrs Jones' by Tara Phillips, Little Heath School, Reading.

‘Diary of a Soldier in World War I' by Annie Howlett, Ilfracombe Arts College, Devon.

‘Second Thoughts' by Bethan Thomas, Bedford Modern School, Bedford.

‘The Evacuee' by Olivia Judah, Davison C E High School, Worthing, West Sussex.