Tuesday 6 February 2024
On Tuesday 6 February, one of our Year 5 pupils, Sufiyaan, took home the Runner Up prize in this year’s northern StorySLAM final, hosted by Cravenwood Primary School.
StorySLAM is an annual competition run by United Learning for pupils in Years 5 and 6, which challenges them to write their own 200-300 word stories to then perform in front of their peers. Inspired by a similar event which began in New York, the aim of the competition is to develop children’s creativity, confidence and literacy skills in a supportive and fun environment.
This year, 36 primary schools across the country took part in the competition. The first stage began in each of the participating schools as the children wrote and later performed their stories in front of their classmates and teachers before a school champion was crowned.
Following this, the winners took up their places in one of three regional finals in the South, Midlands and North, where they performed their stories to an expert panel of judges, including children’s storyteller Kevin Graal.
In the face of fierce competition, Sufiyaan took home the Runner Up prize, impressing judges with his story about ‘Lazer Boy’. To celebrate his efforts, Sufiyaan received a certificate and a selection of books.
At the final event, pupils also participated in a storytelling workshop, led by Kevin, who equipped the children with the tools and confidence they needed to take to the stage and enthusiastically perform their stories.
The finalists’ stories will now be collated and published in the United Learning StorySLAM 2024 Anthology. A copy of this will be sent to each participating school.
Kate Heaton, Principal at William Hulme’s Grammar School said:
“This is a fantastic achievement by Sufiyaan and I would like to congratulate him and all our other children who took part in this excellent competition. I am both immensely proud and delighted that our youngest writers at William Hulme’s are already achieving such great outcomes in the Primary Phase and look forward to this continuing as they make the transition into our Secondary Phase where there will be further opportunities for them to develop their creativity, confidence, literacy and oracy skills”.