Ark celebrates the Year of Reading with network writing competition

Ark has celebrated World Book Day and the Year of Reading with is first ever network writing competition.  

Students from Ark’s 23 secondary schools were invited to submit a piece of writing – in any written form of their choosing – on the theme of ‘Going all in’. There were over 300 submissions across both poetry and prose. 

The competition was supported by the Kartik Foundation, a charity working to help young people advance in life, as part of their WriteSpace initiative.  

The entries were judged on their creativity and originality, their connection to the theme, and their display of technical skills across structure, language, and voice. 

Ark Network Lead for English Leandri Dannhauser said, “The writing competition gave Ark students the chance to find their voices, let their imaginations run wild, and discover just how powerful their words can be. 

“The competition was about being brave. ‘Going all in’ means diving into your idea with everything you’ve got. I’ve been so inspired by the passion, confidence, and creativity our young people brought to that challenge. Big thanks to our judges and the Kartik Foundation for helping us bring this competition to life!” 

Dr Sharon Maxwell Magnus from the University of Hertfordshire judged the final round. She said, “Firstly, a massive shout out to the teachers of these gifted students for nurturing their talents and clearly creating a love of reading. It is very difficult to be a great writer without being a great reader. 

“The students’ work was of a very high standard showing originality and awareness of character development. I was particularly impressed by the Year 7 work as these students are so young and have so much potential.  

“The students themselves – wow! What a choice! It was like being in a baker’s shop with all my favourite pastries and yet only having the money for one. All these young people should continue to write, develop and create. Well done to all!”    

Thanks to the support of the Kartik Foundation, winning authors received cash prizes and recognition certificates – and their work will be published in the first ever Ark Student Writing Anthology in the coming months. 

Tushar Prabhu from the Kartik Foundation said, “The encouragement of creative writing sits at the heart of our WriteSpace initiative and we hope that this experience will help to spur the imaginations of these young writers for a long time to come.” 

The winners were: 

Poetry: Shamsah (Ark All Saints, Year 11), Gustavo (Ark Acton, Year 9) and Davina (Ark Charter, Year 10). 

Prose: Eliana (Ark Bolingbroke, Year 9), Ayeesha (Ark Boulton, Year 10), Ollie (Ark Bolingbroke, Year 8) and Subhan (Ark Walworth, Year 7). 

Read Shamsah’s poem

Read Eliana’s story