Here at Young Writers we run writing competitions from nursery age up to 18.

Our nursery and pre-school poetry writing activities are based around templates, which the children fill in. It is an excellent way to introduce writing poetry to young children and help them identify a rhyme pattern.

We provide lesson plans for mini saga and poetry writing for Key Stage 1, 2 and 3. Our lesson plans are tested in the classroom before being sent out to schools and are OFSTED compliant. The poetry lesson plans focus on different styles and themes each time. The mini saga lesson plan teaches pupils how to write a 50-word story.

Free lesson plans can currently be found with each competition. Our lesson plans aren’t compulsory and we receive a huge variety of poetry throughout the year on all manner of subjects and themes. At this time we don’t provide lesson plans for Key Stage 4; writers of this age and academic level have their own ideas on what a poem should be and we encourage them to choose their own way to express themselves in verse.

We provide free lesson plans, posters, idea generators and entry forms for our competitions*, which can be downloaded from the website. Alternatively, you can email us or give us a call with your requirements and we’ll post them to you.

Our editorial team reads EVERY poem that we receive and all entrants are judged on imagination, perception and interpretation of poetry as well as technical ability. Age and any learning difficulties we are notified of are also taken into consideration. Where possible we try to include as many poems as we can, as this is fundamentally a creative writing experience that the whole class / school can participate in. We award every participating school a complimentary copy of the book their pupil(s) feature in, and if we receive over 100 entries from a school a bonus free copy is provided.

To view our current competitions please use the links below:

Nursery Competitions (Nursery, Pre-School & Foundation Stages)

Primary School Competitions (Key Stages 1 & 2, Years 1-6)

Secondary School Competitions (Key Stages 3 & 4, Years 7-12)

*Not every competition will have all of these resources. However, all resources needed are provided for free.