My First Poem competition for nurseries and preschools

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My First Poem invites your children to complete a special poetry template that celebrates their uniqueness and their favourite person. It captures their likes at this time in their life, making a lovely keepsake to look back on.

My First Poem supports the EYFS literacy requirements, ECAT and the ELG of being imaginative and expressive. Taking part is fun and easy, so get your setting involved today... and remember to let us know why your setting should win the £1,000 prize when you send your entries!

Congratulations to our 2022 winner & runner-up, you can find out more here!

For every 30 entries you submit you get a free copy of the book your children feature in so every participating nursery receives at least 1 free copy.

Closing Date: 31st March 2023.

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For Nurseries / Preschools

1st Prize - £1,000

We’d love to know what you’d do with the prize money – would you enhance your outdoor space? Stock up your library? Upgrade your play equipment? Let us know for a chance to win £1,000 for your setting to spend however you choose!

Runner-Up Prize

One setting will win an amazing lending library!

PLUS a complimentary copy of the book your children feature in! (Remember, you receive 1 free copy for every 30 entries you submit! E.g. 1-30 entries you receive 1 copy, 31-60 entries you receive 2 copies, etc.)

[Student Prizes] => [Winners Subheading] => We're delighted to announce the winners... [Winners Intro] =>

A huge thank you to everyone who took part in My First Poem 2023! We received over 20,000 entries and loved reading all of the poems.

We are delighted to announce the winner and runner-up for this year...

1st Prize - £1,000

Awarded to Anderton Day Nursery, Lancashire
Who had 34 of their children published in "My First Poem 2023 - Creative Voices"

Runner-Up - A Lending Library

Awarded to Tindal Playroom, Ark Tindal Primary Academy, West Midlands
Who had 34 of their children published in "My First Poem 2023 - Fantastic Little Rhymers"

"We had a fantastic experience with young writers. From the very first time we were contacted, right until the end when we found out we were selected as winners we felt the same excitement.

The children were so keen and eager to write/draw their very own poems. The parents from our setting were really keen to join in and were eager to purchase copies of their child’s very first poem published.

We were very grateful to have received the prize for all the books. Our families come from so many different backgrounds; we have children who simply wouldn’t be able to afford to purchase a book of their own, so for them to have a book to take home with them was a delightful moment.

Thank you to everyone on the young writers' team for making this a smooth process. We truly appreciate it all."

Tanzi Saboor, Phonics Lead/Nursery Teacher, Ark Tindal Primary Academy

[How to Enter] => We're looking forward to reading your children's poems! [Rules] =>

Only one entry per child, there is no limit to the number of entries per setting.

Poems can be on the entry form or an A4 sheet of paper or the editable PDF.

Poems must be each child's own work/words.

Ensure that all entrants' names, ages and setting are included on the entry form.

Poems can be written/typed by an adult.

[Tips] => [Orion ID] => 558 [Independent Intro] =>

Help your child write their very own first poem using our fun, easy 'All About Me' template!

It's a lovely way to build literacy and creative skills, plus the activity supports the Ealy Years Foundation Stage literacy requirements too!

If you haven't got a printer, don't worry! You're welcome to help them write out their poem and send us a photo instead! Or you can complete the editable PDF and email it back to us - the entry form is suitable for both options.

[Independent Prizes] =>

For Nurseries / Pre-Schools

1st Prize - £1,000

Runner-Up Prize

One setting will win an amazing lending library

PLUS Every participating nursery receives a free copy of the book their children feature in.

For Children

Bookmark for every entrant, plus a certificate for each child whose work is published.

[Independent Rules] =>

Only one entry per person.

Poems can be on the entry form or an A4 sheet of paper or the editable PDF.

The poem must be completed in your child's own words.

Ensure that your child's name, age and address are included on the entry form.

Poems can be written/typed by an adult.

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This competition is now closed.

If you have late entries, please email us at [email protected] and we'll do our best to accommodate them.

Open competitions can be found here.

What happens now?

Our editorial team will read every single entry. Any child whose work they'd love to publish in a book will be sent a letter and certificate. Children whose work hasn't met the competition criteria will have the chance to resubmit their work. Winners will be chosen from published pieces once all the books in the series have been published.

Competition Timeline

Stage	Date	Status
Letters Sent	By No date set	⏳ In Progress
Books Published	No date set - No date set	⏳ Coming Soon
Winners Announced	No date set	⏳ Coming Soon

Please note we aim to keep these dates as accurate as possible but can be subject to change.

For more detailed information about your school's entries, please log in (or create) your teacher account here using the email you included on your teacher entry form.