On Wednesday 11 May, two Year 7 pupils travelled to Birmingham University to attend an awards ceremony for their entries into the ‘Thank You’ letter writing competition.
Mia Ward and Lydia Matterson’s thank you letters were shortlisted into the top 50 national entries by the University of Birmingham. This was an outstanding achievement as there were 40,000 entries submitted by 200 schools – and The Academy at Shotton Hall had two shortlisted letters. Both girls were incredibly excited, as were their fellow competitors all vying for a place in the top five.
After a leisurely icecream, the awards ceremony started and a selection of letters were read out by pupils. The standards were incredibly high across both primary and secondary letters, some of which were humbling to the point of tears.
Before the winners were announced, a surprise speaker was brought to the stage - the Pakistani activist for girls’ education: Malala Yousafzai’s father. With the announcement of the speaker a murmur of amazement spread across the hall and Miss Baker beamed with fan-girl excitement at the prospect of meeting one of her idol’s parents. His speech focused on gratitude and was listened to eagerly with a sea of faces set in awe.
The time finally came. Winners. Lydia 4th in the country out of 40,000 entries and Mia in the top 50 out of 40,000 entries. Two Shotton Hall girls showing the country how creative, imaginative, humbling and appreciative writing can be.
Well done girls!