Special Delivery for Prep Pupils

<p style=”text-align: justify;”> </p> <p style=”text-align: center;”><img style=”vertical-align: top;” src=”images/stories/royal_mail_2.jpg” alt=”royal_mail_2″ width=”354″ height=”266″ /></p> <p style=”text-align: justify;”>Local MP and Secretary for State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith made a special early start on Friday 9 March when he attended School Assembly at the Prep.  He was there to present prizes to two  pupils for their entries in the Royal Mail’s young letter writing competition.  Beta pupil Benedict Hughes was named as the London Regional winner and fellow Bancroft’s pupil Adam Agbamu (Prep 1) received the prize for the regional runner-up.</p> <div style=”text-align: justify;”></div> <p style=”text-align: justify;”>Children aged between 7 and 11 were invited to write letters on “what the Olympics mean to me.”  Judges were looking for original and imaginative letters – children could write a letter to their favourite Olympic sportsperson – past, present or future, real or imaginary, or they could write about something or someone more personal to them.</p> <div style=”text-align: justify;”></div> <p style=”text-align: justify;”> The boys were unaware they had won until their names were announced in assembly. Benedict said, Benedict said, “I was speechless when Mrs Ireland presented the award and I looked at my friends and was stunned and very excited and couldn’t help smiling.”  He drew on his own experiences for his letter, “My mum has a friend called Paul and he is in a wheel chair. I went to his house and he beat me at a game of swing ball and this really inspired me to write a story.”</p> <p style=”text-align: justify;”>There were ten heats across the UK with prizes for winners in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, North East, North West, London, South East, Anglia, Midlands and South West.  Heat winners will each receive £100 in vouchers and a selection of Royal Mail stamps, stationery and pin badges to share with their class.  Heat runner-up prizes are £50 in vouchers, a set of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games stamps.  The competition was open to all children aged between 7 and 11, with a Special Achievement award for children who overcame particular difficulties to enter.</p> <div style=”text-align: justify;”></div> <p style=”text-align: justify;”>The national winner’s letter will be entered into the Universal Postal Union’s international Olympic letter writing competition 2012.</p> <div style=”text-align: justify;”></div> <p style=”text-align: justify;”> Iain Duncan-Smith said: “I’m delighted to be able to present these awards and it’s great to know that children have not lost the passion or art of letter writing in this age of electronic communications.  Letters can be treasured and re-read for years to come and form part of our rich literary heritage.”</p> <p style=”text-align: center;”><img style=”vertical-align: bottom;” src=”images/stories/Ropyal_mail_5.jpg” alt=”Ropyal_mail_5″ width=”412″ height=”309″ /></p> <p style=”text-align: center;”> </p>