Lewisham Southwark College kicked off International Women’s Day this year by opening a writing competition.
The competition challenged students to write at least 50 words about a woman they admired and why. Hundreds of entries were submitted.
On 18 May, after four weeks for submissions followed by judging, Amanda Swift joined Lewisham Southwark College to announce the winners.
Swift has created episodes for The Story of Tracy Beaker for radio as well as for Horrid Harry for television, as well as written children’s books, such as Guinea Pigs Online series and The Boys Club.
At the competition final, students had a chance to meet Swift and discuss what inspired them. The winners had their work displayed.
“As a local author and an ex-teacher at Lewisham Southwark College, I was delighted to present the prizes,” Swift said. “I judged the GCSE-level entries and they were very inspiring.”
The Head of Department at Lewisham Southwark College, Julie Hutton, also commented on the success of the competition.
“It was fantastic to see so many students inspired to write about international women who have achieved great things,” Hutton said. “Many of the entrants do not have English as their first language, which makes this an even greater achievement.”
The first place winners were: Gloria Miko Buila and Egenia Mankola, Maria Luz Zurita Argota and Enid Ryan, Long Ping Wu and Juliette Grassby-Lewis, Masooda Hashimi and David Kimmins, Jana Ikere and Juliette Grassby-Lewis, and Myla-Star Pott and Juliette Grassby-Lewis