As all our teachers would tell you, our schools are full of some incredibly talented pupils. At OAK, we believe it’s crucial to give our children the opportunity to showcase these talents.

We were looking for a way to bring our schools together in a way that is meaningful and rewarding for everyone involved; for these reasons, we set up the 500 Words competition.

Starting every year after the SATs exams, Year 2 and Year 6 pupils at each of our schools get their creative minds in gear as they craft their submissions to our 500 Words competition.

Each pupil is given a maximum of 500 words to produce an original story or piece of writing about absolutely anything. Teachers at each school then judge each story, with Headteachers then nominating a number of stories for the final competition.

Each nominated finalist is then included in a beautiful book, featuring each story wrapped up in professional illustration and design. Copies of the book are shared between the winners and each school, so everyone can have a read! Nominees are also invited to a special celebration event at College Court Conference Centre, this year taking place on 4th July.

During the event, attended by teachers and our talented pupils, staff will read out the winning stories, and the overall winners of the competition will be announced! Nominees will be given prizes including book vouchers and trophies, as well as a copy of the book to take home!

This showcase of our pupils' creativity and hard work has been running for three years now, and judging by the efforts of previous cohorts, this year's book is sure to be jam-packed with incredible stories.

In the run-up to the event on July 4th, we’ll be posting some excerpts from previous year’s editions, so keep an eye on our social media channels in the weeks to come.