News

This year, on National Poetry Day, we’ve launched a poetry competition, challenging students to take inspiration from this year’s theme and Play with words. Hafsah (8M9) and Madina (8M7) were the brave poets who entered the competition with the brilliant pieces Home (a haiku) and The beauty of nature, respectively.

Both poets were invited to the Library for a celebration of their ingenuity and dedication to reading and writing. Thank you for offering us the gift of poetry! Congratulations, Madina and Hafsah!

On another note, Madina (8M7) has also been shortlisted for the Black in White Poetry Competition 2025 with her poem We are humans. The judges commented: “Taking into account the age of the writer, I think it is a lovely message that should be shared with other young people.” And also: "Given that Madina is only 12 years old, I think she should be very proud of her effort and be encouraged to continue writing poems and entering poetry competitions." Even though she hasn't been chosen as the winner on this occasion, this is a wonderful step towards success that Madina should be proud of.

Robert (13M7) has submitted his poem Change to the Foyle Young Poets Awards, one of the most important poetry competitions in the UK. The feedback was: “I hope the student feels proud that they challenged themselves to write and put their writing out in the world. We’re really grateful!” His poem didn’t reach the shortlist, but given that the judges had to read through 28000 entries (!), we truly admire your bravery and love of poetry!

We have also submitted our students’ entries to the Young Muslim Writers Awards 2025: ‘Unity in a World of Division’ by Madina (8M7), ‘A New Sky’ by Aiza (9M4), ‘Until I Heard His Voice’ by Hafsah (8M9), ‘Where Light Lives’ by Shazmeen (10M9), and ‘The Boy Who Heard the Bang’ by Arowa (11M5) were the lovely pieces of writing entered to the YMWA. We were honoured to receive the entries and to have the opportunity to read them. It takes courage to share one’s writing, and for that we thank you young writers for trusting us with the work. The quality of the submissions impressed us, and the task in selecting the shortlist is increasingly difficult.

Thank you all for your enthusiasm for literature! Never give up on blessing us with the power of literature and creative thinking! You are all wonderful Mayfielders!