Warwick primary school pupil wins prize in national writing competition

Miki Baker of Coten End Primary School created a short story, which took second place in the seven to nine year old category of The Young Author Award, an initiative led by primary school learning platform Atom Learning.

The competition was created to recognise young writers and is judged by Atom’s team of tutors and curriculum specialists.

The theme of this year’s competition was ‘A Day that Changed the World’.

As a runner-up, Miki has won an overnight trip to the London Zoo for four as well as £1,000 for her school.

With the grand prize being an all-expenses-paid trip to Disneyland Paris and a £2,500 cheque to the school, the competition received thousands of entries with many addressing issues such as international conflict and the climate crisis.

Miki’s entry followed the tale of a magical, do-gooding creature fighting pollution in its habitat, titled ‘The Jackal-Mouse’.

She said: “We only have one Earth so I wanted to write a story that would inspire people to look after it, like the Jackal-Mouse did, and not to take the wonderful animals we share it with for granted.

"I'm so excited to take the train to London and see what the animals in the zoo get up to at night.”

Talking about Miki’s story the judges said: “The story is a wonderful expression of the imagination, full of intricate and delightful details.

"It speaks to young people’s keen awareness of the need to protect our environment and inspires the use of creative means to combat global climate change.”