We are incredibly proud of our Year 6 student, Holly, who took part in this year’s BBC 500 Words competition, one of the UK’s most well-known writing contests for young people. Although Holly didn’t win, she achieved an amazing milestone by making it to the final 50 out of nearly 44,000 entries—a fantastic accomplishment.
As one of the finalists, Holly had the exciting opportunity to attend the grand final at Buckingham Palace in February. The event was hosted by Her Majesty The Queen and celebrated young writers from across the country. The winning stories were read aloud by celebrities including Olivia Colman, McFly’s Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones, Matt Lucas, Rose Ayling-Ellis, JB Gill, and Rob Brydon. Presenters Alex Jones and Roman Kemp helped bring the event to life.
Holly’s story, Captain’s Smoothie Hunt, captivated the judges with its imaginative plot and humour. In her tale, a pirate crew, led by Captain Buckle Beard, embarks on a daring mission to find the ingredients for a mango smoothie. “The mango trees were running about making the mango picking extremely difficult,” Holly wrote, describing the crew’s chaotic attempt to lasso the trees and wrestle them to the ground. After a night of adventure, the crew finally made the smoothie—only to drink it all before the Captain could have a taste. Furious, Captain Buckle Beard made them walk the plank, and as Holly concluded, “Some say you can find them on Mango Wango Island slurping mango smoothies.”
Congratulations, Holly, on your incredible achievement—we can’t wait to see what you write next!
