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Jessica writes her way to a top prize
A STUDENT at Tibshelf Community School has won a prestigious national competition for her historical story set at the court of Henry VIII.
Jessica Patton (13) was one of six winners of the Write Your Own Historical Story — a competition organised by the Historical Association.
The judges said Jessica’s story – The Outcast, The Victim and Me: The Diary of Maria L’mabl, 1540 – “was very well researched”.
Jessica’s yarn takes the form of the diary of a lady-in-waiting, who travelled to work in the court of Henry VIII for his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
It explains the fall of Anne of Cleves and the success and failure of Henry VIII’s fifth wife Katherine Howard.
The story also describes the practices and details of life in court and includes a number of historical references.
Jessica fought off 111 entries from over 51 schools to win the certificate and prizes and was the only winner in her year group.
In a statement, the judges said: “In the best stories, the pupils deliberately drew upon historical fiction writer’s devices to write well.
“They had clearly been explicitly taught how to do this.
“The challenge of writing a short story is hard enough, however placing that in the correct historical context is even more of a challenge.”
Jessica began working on her story during an extra-curricular club at the school, run by teacher Samantha Cox.
Miss Cox said: “We began working on entries for the competition in History Club and very quickly Jessica’s story stood out from the rest.
“She spent hours of her own time working on the story and it is outstanding.
“I, and the rest of the school, are exceptionally proud of her achievements. Winning a national competition of such high calibre is fantastic!”
The story will soon be available to read on the Historical Association website (www.history.org.uk) and Tibshelf Community School’s website.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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