Tales from the Snow…
Enter our free Festive Poem Competition to be in with a chance of winning Reading Plus for your school.
Win Reading Plus
To join the snowy storytelling, your students must submit a poem based on the theme “Tales from the Snow”. They have complete creative freedom — whether they write something magical, funny or sentimental, there’s no “snowing” what they’ll come up with!
Poems can rhyme (or not), be free-verse or acrostic, but should be no longer than 12 lines.
Need some inspiration? Check out the Tales from the Snow prompts, poem submission template and activity resources at the bottom of the page.
Who can enter?
This competition is open exclusively to non-Reading Plus users.
Already a Reading Plus user? Enter our customer competition here
What is Reading Plus?
Reading Plus is an adaptive online reading development programme designed to improve students’ reading fluency, comprehension and vocabulary in KS2 to GCSE and beyond.
Key features include:
- Inbuilt summative and formative assessments – Results accurately identify each child’s skills gaps and place students on a personalised, age-appropriate reading journey.
- The Reading Plus Guided Window – Students will see texts presented using the patented Guided Window feature to model good reading behaviour – improving their fluency and stamina.
Prizes
Winners will be announced on Tuesday, 7th January 2025.
The winners will receive:
- 1st place: One-year subscription to Reading Plus (up to 35 licences), including full training, implementation and support for the duration of licence.
- 2nd place: £200 Amazon voucher and a certificate.
- 3rd place: £150 Amazon voucher and a certificate.
How to win
Submit your student’s poem via the link provided by midnight on 11th December 2024.
- Only one entry per student will be accepted (submissions must include the student’s name, age, year group and school).
- Reading Solutions UK will shortlist six poems.
- Shortlisted poems will be shared on Reading Solutions UK’s social media channels, and a voting process will take place. (Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter))
- The prize winners will be the top three poems that receive the most votes.
Voting will open on 16th December and close at midnight on 5th January 2025.
Voting
Maximise your school’s chances to win by getting as many students as possible to take part – every poem is a chance to be shortlisted!
- Voting opens on Monday, 16th December 2024.
- Every like, comment or share counts as a vote.
- The top three poems with the most votes by midnight on 5th January 2025 will be crowned winners!
Need help spreading the word?
Brr-illiant printable resources
We’ve created a host of cool resources to support your class in their poem-writing process.
Lesson ideas for your class
Use these class discussion questions to inspire your students’ imaginations and snowball some ideas for their ‘Winter Wonderland’ poems.
- What is your favourite part about Winter? Why?
- What activities do you like to do in the Winter?
- What holiday traditions do you have?
- What holidays do you celebrate during Winter? How do you celebrate them?
- What is your most magical holiday memory?
- What is your favourite Arctic animal? Why?
Access these links en-tale-ing some brrr-illiant snowy Winter facts to teach your students and inspire their poetry:
- BBC Bitesize: How well do you know these legendary winter figures?
- BBC Bitesize: How winter works: Six winter mysteries solved
- BBC Bitesize: The history and science of snowmen
- BBC Bitesize: Cool wintry words from around the world
- BBC Bitesize: What is Christmas?
- Twinkl: Christmas around the world
- National Geographic Kids: Winter Celebrations around the world
We’ve put together a festive playlist for your students (and yourself!) to spark joy while they write their poems.
Proud to support the Digital Poverty Alliance
We’re thrilled to once again be supporting the Digital Poverty Alliance in achieving their vision of living in a world that enables everyone to access the life-changing benefits of digital technology.
Did you know?
- 26% of young people do not have access to a laptop or similar device.
- 53% of people offline can’t afford an average monthly broadband bill.
- 1 in 5 children home-schooling during the pandemic did not have access to an appropriate device like a laptop.
To discover more ways to support, visit digitalpovertyalliance.org