Community
This section is for our First Story community, to keep you updated with the programme schedule over the year. Whether you’re a teacher, writer or student involved in the First Story programme, you can find all our key dates and some of our First Story school forms and resources here.
The Siobhan Dowd Trust book scheme
Thanks to the generosity of the Siobhan Dowd Trust, each First Story writer-in-residence has been able to provide their students with a free book. The following titles have been chosen and we will continue to update this page as more books are distributed.
- The Seagull Reader: Poems by Joseph Kelly, selected by Eireann Lorsung for Ellis Guilford School
- The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy, selected by Chrissie Gittins for George Green’s School
- Rowan the Strange by Julie Hearn, selected by Rebecca Abrams for Larkmead School
- Animal Farm by George Orwell, selected by Alex Wheatle for Woodside High School (generously donated by Everyman Classics)
- A selection of Everyman Classics, chosen by Ben Faccini for Queens Park Community School (generously donated by Everyman Classics)
- Be My Baby by Amanda Whittington, selected by Amanda Whittington for Ellis Guilford School
- War Horse by Michael Morpurgo, selected by Clare Brown for Nottingham Academy
- The Outsider, by Albert Camus, selected by Clare Brown for Nottingham Academy (generously donated by Everyman Classics)
- Daylight Saving, by Edward Hogan, selected by Ross Raisin for Islington Arts and Media School
- A selection of Everyman Classics chosen by Betsy Tobin for Highbury Grove School (generously donated by Everyman Classics)
- Various titles selected by Daljit Nagra for Cranford Community College
The First Story Festival
Thank you to everyone who attended our First Story Festival and helped to make it such an enjoyable day. We would love any further feedback you have, or if you have any ideas for next year’s festival just drop us a line at info@firststory.org.uk.
Are you a First Story student? Join NING!
Take part in the First Story community! By joining the First Story NING community you can:
- Create your own profile page
- Share your writing with other members of the First Story community
- Comment and feedback on other members’ work and writing
- Upload and share your photos
- Join in discussions in the forums
- Stay updated with writing news and competitions
If you’re a student, past or present, and not yet a member, you can join by sending us an email at info@firststory.org.uk.
Are you a teacher or writer working in a First Story school?
First Story School Groupings
Our First Story schools are divided into four groups and hubs by region.
London 1: George Green’s School, Highgate Wood School, Islington Arts and Media School, Loxford School of Science and Technology, Quintin Kynaston School, Willowfield Humanities College, Woodside High School.
London 2: Acland Burghley School, Burlington Danes Academy, Charles Edward Brooke School, Cranford Community College, Highbury Grove, Holland Park School, Queen’s Park Community School.
Oxford: Cheney School, Larkmead School, Oxford Spires Academy.
Nottingham: Bulwell Academy, Ellis Guildford School, Nottingham Academy Ransom Road site, Nottingham Academy Greenwood Road site, Nottingham Children’s Hospital, Nottingham Girls Academy, Nottingham University Samworth Academy.
Teachers & Writers Meetings
Minutes for the spring teacher and writer meetings are available here.
For more information about any of our events, please contact Mónica.
UEL Accreditation
If you have any questions regarding the UEL accreditation, contact Wayne Tennent.
Competitions
LSE Literary Festival and First Story Prize Giving
The short-list for our Relating Cultures competition has now been finalised, and in collaboration with the LSE, the overall winners will be announced at the ‘Fantasy v. Reality’ event on the 23 February 2012.
“The most popular books today are filled with vampires, ghosts, wizards and other fantasy figures. Is real life so uninspiring?”
The LSE Literary Festival and First Story Prize-Giving event during the LSE’s annual Space for Thought Literary Festival will be held on Thursday 23rd of February from 6-7.30pm. The event will kick off with a panel featuring four acclaimed writers, including our very own William Fiennes and Caroline Bird. The winners of the First Story competition will be announced following the panel, and all in attendance will be invited to a reception to follow.
More information about this event and the LSE Literature Festival can be found here. If anyone is interested in coming along please do get in contact with the events team at LSE as we would love to see as many new and familiar faces there on the day as possible!
Wicked Young Writers’ Award
The musical Wicked has an award open to any young person from the UK and Northern Ireland aged between 5 and 25 years old. The 2012 deadline is 31 July 2012, so do consider entering! Entries can range from stories, to poetry, to drama – they must be typewritten and no longer than 750 words. The winner will receive an exclusive Wicked experience including four tickets to see the London production of Wicked with their family and an opportunity to meet cast members after the show, a Wicked writing master class from a published writer or one of the Wicked Young Writers’ Award judges and book tokens to the value of £50. For more information, and to submit an entry, visit their website.
Write for Rights 2011
Amnesty International’s human rights campaign encourages people to sit down and write a letter in an effort to effect change. Whether people choose to write directly to those that are in need of help, or to write to agencies to encourage them to rethink their actions, Amnesty International knows that letter writing can save lives, and empower change.
Write for Rights is asking people to turn off their computers and take a moment to go back to basics with a pen and paper. The Write for Rights campaign runs officially until the end of December, but throughout the year Amnesty needs people to help write letters. Any students or teachers who would like to take part in any other Amnesty International campaign can find more information on their website:
Walkopedia Travel Writing Competition
The website Walkopedia has launched a First Story category in its competition for writing based on a walk. And there’s a £200 prize!
Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award 2013
The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book award has been running annually since 2009. The award celebrates cultural diversity, either in the stories that are told, or in the authors who are telling them.
The award is open to any writer over the age of 18 who has never had a children’s book published. For more information and details of the award, please see the Frances Lincoln website:
Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award 2013
First Story Forms and Resources
