Survey for teachers
The winners!
Authors Chloe Inkpen and Guy Bass who judged this year’s competition have released the list of winners! They had a lot of fun reading all of the work sent in for the competition and had a very difficult task in narrowing it down to just these stories and poems.
All of the prize-winners entered either via their school or the Tower Hamlets Idea Stores. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
The list is sorted by school. Prizes (1st, 2nd, 3rd and commended in each category) will be revealed at the prize-giving.
Please inform us of any spelling errors or name changes by 1st July – we will use pupil names as written below in the published book.
Prize-giving
Now that we have all of the winning writing selected, ‘Extraordinary’ the book can be designed! It will be published in August and this year the prize-giving and book launch will be on the same day.
The prize giving will take place at the Tower Hamlets Town Hall – the Grocers Wing on the ground floor.
9th September – 4:45pm to 6pm. Prize-winners under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
| Category | Pupil name | Pupil school |
| Year 1 and 2 Short Story | Hawa Ali | Bangabandhu Primary |
| Year 1 and 2 Short Story | Poppy Sheldrick | Bangabandhu Primary |
| Year 5 and 6 Short Story | Yusra Rahman | Bangabandhu Primary |
| Year 3 and 4 Short Story | Zakariya Hamid | Bangabandhu Primary |
| Year 5 and 6 Poetry | Fariha Hossain | Blue Gate Fields Juniors |
| Year 3 and 4 Short Story | Layth Yahya Al-Omaisa | Blue Gate Fields Juniors |
| Year 5 and 6 Poetry | Mariam Helena Vazquez | Blue Gate Fields Juniors |
| Year 3 and 4 Short Story | Muhammad Ali | Blue Gate Fields Juniors |
| Year 3 and 4 Poetry | Zaynab Hussain | Blue Gate Fields Juniors |
| Year 3 and 4 Short Story | Zaynab Hussain | Blue Gate Fields Juniors |
| Year 5 and 6 Short Story | Mohammed Anas Rashid | Bygrove Primary |
| Year 1 and 2 Short Story | William Hobson | Canary Wharf College |
| Year 7 – 9 Short Story | Aliyah Abdirahman Mohammed | Central Foundation Girls’ School |
| Year 7 – 9 Short Story | Jennifer Scantlebury | Central Foundation Girls’ School |
| Year 10 and 11 Poetry | Mahdiya Mahasin | Central Foundation Girls’ School |
| Year 10 and 11 Short Story | Minha Syeda Ali | Central Foundation Girls’ School |
| Year 10 and 11 Short Story | Naima Chowdhury | Central Foundation Girls’ School |
| Year 10 and 11 Poetry | Naima Chowdhury | Central Foundation Girls’ School |
| Year 7 – 9 poetry | Nusaybah Amani | Central Foundation Girls’ School |
| Year 10 and 11 Short Story | Rathika Rahman | Central Foundation Girls’ School |
| Year 7 – 9 Short Story | Ridwanah Ullah | Central Foundation Girls’ School |
| Year 10 and 11 Poetry | Samreen Haider | Central Foundation Girls’ School |
| Year 10 and 11 Short Story | Sophia Velasquez | Central Foundation Girls’ School |
| Year 7 – 9 Short Story | Zaynab Bint Zakariyya | Central Foundation Girls’ School |
| Year 5 and 6 Poetry | Hayley Davies | Chisenhale Primary |
| Year 1 and 2 Short Story | Zara Fazzolari | Chisenhale School |
| Year 5 and 6 Short Story | Owen Linton | Hermitage |
| Year 1 and 2 Short Story | Ibaad Ur Rahman Khan | Homeschool |
| Year 5 and 6 Short Story | Nabiha Maimunah Mujahid | Homeschool |
| Year 7 – 9 poetry | Sanika Ahmed | Homeschool |
| Year 7 – 9 Short Story | Sanika Ahmed | Homeschool |
| Year 3 and 4 Short Story | Charis Jelfs | Old Palace Primary |
| Year 5 and 6 Short Story | Ruqayyah Akther | Old Palace Primary |
| Year 1 and 2 Poetry | Fatima Rahaman | Osmani Primary |
| Year 3 and 4 Poetry | Hannah Bint Ruhal Uddin | Osmani Primary |
| Year 5 and 6 Poetry | Mahirah Chowdhury | Osmani Primary |
| Year 3 and 4 Poetry | Mariyyah Khan | Osmani Primary |
| Year 5 and 6 Poetry | Romaisa Bouhamouch | Osmani Primary |
| Year 3 and 4 Poetry | Sahla Islam | Osmani Primary |
| Year 3 and 4 Poetry | Sofia Hoque | Osmani Primary |
| Year 5 and 6 Short Story | Callum Ritchie-Lau | St Peters London Docks |
| Year 7 – 9 Short Story | Amelia Rodriguez | Stepney All Saints |
| Year 7 – 9 poetry | Nusrat Hossain Mim | Stepney All Saints |
| Year 10 and 11 Short Story | Sohana Abbas | Stepney All Saints |
| Year 10 and 11 Poetry | Sohana Abbas | Stepney All Saints |
| Year 1 and 2 Poetry | Ruby Bail | The Aldgate School |
About the competition
The Tower Hamlets Creative Writing Competition is an annual event for schools in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for students aged six years to sixteen.
- Open to pupils in subscribing schools OR to members of Tower Hamlets Idea Stores
- Pupils in years 1 to 11 may enter
- Categories for short stories and poetry
It has been run by Tower Hamlets Schools Library Service since 2011 with the aims of promoting wider reading and literacy, and to encourage young people to express themselves through the written word. Research carried out during the 2020 competition showed that pupils participating in the competition and in the author workshops benefited by gaining confidence in their writing ability and developing greater insight into the issues raised by the competition themes.
Theme for 2025 : EXTRAORDINARY!
