NAE Creative Writing Competition 2020

Every year, our parent organisation, Nord Anglia Education, hosts its global Creative Writing Competition for all students in the NAE family of schools.

This year, the students were asked to research and write a short biography of a ‘climate rebel’, inspired by 'Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls', a popular collection of biographies of inspirational women. 

At BIS HCMC, protecting the environment is something that our teachers and students are passionate about. The competition topic ties in wonderfully with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which the school actively supports: we are all aiming to be climate rebels in our own right, through initiatives like the Plastic Pledge and World Clean Up Day.

The competition was an opportunity for our children to develop their global citizenship and draw on their learning from across the curriculum, incorporating elements of IPC and Art. After exploring biographies with Ms. Susan in the Library, the students selected a ‘climate rebel’ who resonated with them, such as Greta Thunberg and Sir David Attenborough. In addition to researching facts about their chosen rebel’s life, the children were challenged to write emotively, inspiring feelings in the target readership of 8 - 12 year olds. Furthermore, the children were asked to express their creativity by producing an artistic portrait to accompany the biography.

The English Team was delighted by the high standard of the entries we received, which sparkled with passion and writing skill. On the Junior Campus, we chose one winner and runners up from each year group. Each winner received a copy of Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls 2, the sequel to the fabulous collection of biographies on which this competition was based. 

The winners, in year group order are:

• Year 3: Addison
• Year 4: Aariana
• Year 5: Isabella
• Year 6 Tram Anh

We also needed to choose a winner in each age category to represent BIS Ho Chi Minh City in the global competition. After much deliberation, we proudly announce that our chosen entrants are: Addison (Under 8) and Tram An (8 - 11). They will be joined by Caitlin from the Secondary Campus (12 - 14). We are sure you will join us in wishing them every success as they go up against the best young writers in the world!

You can read the year group winners’ biographies and view their wonderful portraits here.

Mr. John Lee and Ms. Carli Holbrook