Schoolchildren across Britain are being invited to enter The Royal Mint Museum’s Short Story competition – helping to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

The short story competition is open to all pupils aged 8 to 11, and the winning entry will be selected by our panel of celebrated children’s authors and illustrators, Sarah Edmonds, Joseph Coelho, Alex T. Smith, Caroline Clough and the newly appointed Children’s Laureate Wales, Connor Allen. The successful budding author will also see their story brought to life, thanks to illustrator and artist Sarah Edmonds.

About the competition:

• 2022 marks 70 years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II
• Celebrated children’s author and Children’s Laureate Wales, Connor Allen will be judging the competition along with Sarah Edmonds, Caroline Clough, Joseph Coelho and Alex T. Smith.
• The winning story will be illustrated by Sarah Edmonds and published in the Teach Co. Teach Primary magazine. The author will win a voucher for £5,000 for investment into their school library or literary project and will receive a silver commemorative coin. Four Highly Commended entries will receive a silver commemorative coin and five Runners Up will receive a brilliant uncirculated coin.

Pupils are asked to write a short story of no more than 500 words about the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. There is a downloadable Teachers Resource inspiration sheet and lots of information for children to find inspiration in our Learning section on the Royal Mint Museum website.

Newly appointed Children’s Laureate Wales, Connor Allen said: “I’m thrilled to be on the judging panel for this amazing competition. Stories are so essential for development and growth and they’re a place to escape to different worlds with different characters. I can’t wait to read the brilliant short stories that pupils all over the country come up with in regards to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.”

Schools can seek further information and teaching resources by going to the Museum’s website: https://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/learning/

Closing date for entries to the competition is Friday 3rd December. Stories can be submitted digitally or by post alongside a signed copy of our Terms and Conditions to the Royal Mint Museum.

ENDS

• For further information about The Royal Mint Museum and the competition contact storycompetition@royalmintmuseum.org.uk enquiries@royalmintmuseum.org.uk or 01443 623658
• For further information about The Royal Mint contact: office@royalmint.com

 

Notes to editors

About Connor Allen:

Connor is the newly appointed Children’s Laureate of Wales. He’s a multidisciplinary artist who graduated from Trinity Saint David as an Actor in 2013. He is a member of National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and was also the winner of Triforce’s Cardiff MonologueSlam, representing Wales at the London winners edition. As a writer he was a member of the BBC Wales Welsh Voices and The Welsh Royal Court/NTW writing groups and has written for BBC Wales, BBC Radio 4, Sherman Theatre, Literature Wales and Dirty Protest. Connors work is heavily inspired by elements of his own life such as grief, love, masculinity, identity, and ethnicity. Most recently he was longlisted for the 2020 Wales Writer in Residence, Won the Rising Star Wales Award 2021 and was the recipient of a Jerwood Live Work Fund. He is also associate artist of his hometown theatre The Riverfront in Newport.

About Royal Mint Museum:

The Royal Mint Museum is a registered charity, which resides within The Royal Mint in Llantrisant, South Wales. Established in 1816, The Royal Mint Museum has one of the finest collections of coins and related material in the world. Originally intended as a source of inspiration for Royal Mint engravers, a function it retains to this day, it has grown and developed into a collection about how money is made and how the Royal Mint has evolved over the last 1100 years.