Maximus Nikitakos from Newton St Cyres named a regional finalist in national writing competition 

News Desk
Authored by News Desk
Posted Monday, June 3, 2019 - 9:31pm

A nine year old boy from New St Cyres Primary School has been named a regional finalist in the Explore Learning Writers’ Awards!  Maximus Nikitakos’ story, called Sanjay Windybottom was a tale based on this year’s theme of “a chance to change the world”.  He was crowned the regional finalist for Devon.

The competition, which has been running for the past three months, invited children from across the UK to write a 500-word story. The competition organised by tuition provider, Explore Learning is now in its eleventh year and this year’s judge was children’s author, TV presenter and singer, Alesha Dixon! An astonishing 17,000 children from all over the UK entered in an effort to win a trip to Disneyland Paris and £500 worth of books for their school!

There could be more good news to come as judges are still shortlisting the entries! The top ten national runners up will be announced on 3rd June while the national winner will be crowned on the 20th June with a surprise visit from Alesha Dixon to their school! 
Every child that enters will receive a certificate to celebrate their story, along with personalised feedback from one of Explore Learning’s inspirational tutors.

Alesha Dixon says: “I was thrilled by the quality of writing in the entries for the Explore Learning Writers’ Award. It is a huge achievement to be named a runner up in the competition, as we have so many creative young people in this country. It is so encouraging to see the promise of the talented young writers of tomorrow.”

Explore Learning is an award-winning English and maths tuition company with 145 centres located all over the country.  Over 35,000 children aged four to 14 attend their centres each week and over the course of the last 18 years have helped over 250,000 children. Explore Learning’s aim is to help every child reach their full potential and get the best results they can, developing a generation of fearless learners.    

Charlotte Gater, Head of Curriculum at Explore Learning says: “So many children demonstrated great imagination and intellect with their incredible stories about how they would change the world. We’re really proud of the calibre of entries and want to congratulate everyone who took part. Well done to all of our regional winners who’ve done a great job to be shortlisted and make it this far.”

For more information about the Explore Learning Writers’ Awards visit www.explorelearning.co.uk/writersawards

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