Bristol & West of England Comenius Centre
Faculty of Education
University of the West of England
Coldharbour Road
Frenchay
Bristol

Person in charge of project: Alison Taylor

The annual Words Count National Poetry & Song Competition was launched in 1994 and is open to all secondary school pupils in the UK. There are specific categories for French, German, Italian and Spanish, as well as a general category for other languages. The prizes are awarded in three age groups: Years 7-8, Years 9-11, Years 12-13. The competition is run via the Bristol & West of England Comenius Centre and is sponsored by Mary Glasgow Publications, a division of Stanley Thornes, with support from the French Embassy, Goethe Institut, Spanish Embassy and Italian Institute. Since its inception, over 12,000 poems and songs have been submitted for the consideration of the judges.

Objectives of the project

• To provide a focus and audience for pupils to experiment with creative writing in poetry and through music
• To inspire pupils' writing through provision of a poetry anthology for each school and poems on the Internet

• It is the first national competition of its kind in the UK
• It encourages participation from pupils speaking community languages
• Each school receives a free anthology of poems
• Use of the Internet for publication of pupils' poems

• A focus has been provided for pupils of all abilities to use language creatively
• Creativity is celebrated by awarding prizes and 150 Highly Commended certificates
• Newspaper articles in the TES and Education Guardian further encourage creativity

• Increased use of the Internet
• Increased publicity for pupils' work (buses, airports, Embassies, telephone cards)
• Special focus for the millennium