A pupil at a Lancaster primary school has been voted the “Best Story Teller Ever” in a nation-wide writing competition.
Noah Huddleston, 10, who attends Dolphinholme Church of England School, came out top among hundreds of entries from more than 50 schools in the competition, which was organised by Moto in the Community Trust, the charity run by Moto Hospitality Ltd, Britain’s biggest operator of motorway service areas.
He wowed the judges with his story of being stranded by a storm on a remote island.
Chief judge, award-winning children’s author Dave Cousins said: “I enjoyed all the action packed into Noah’s story. The level of detail in the storytelling was particularly impressive and helped give the action some real depth and a sense of reality.”
Yesterday (Thursday 10 March) Dave made a special visit to Dolphinholme to present Noah with his prize − £50 worth of WH Smith Reward vouchers − in front of the whole school.
Noah’s success meant that his school also won a cash prize of £2,500, which headmistress Cathy Winter has spent on shade sails so the pupils can have lessons outside when the sun shines.
She said: “Noah is a really determined little boy and it’s absolutely wonderful that he has won the competition. The money to enable us to buy somewhere the children can study and play outside will make a huge difference to our school.
And we are immensely grateful to Moto in the Community for all the support we receive.”
Dophinholme is the school “adopted” by Moto’s Lancaster Service Area on the nearby M6 as part of its Moto in the Community (MITC) support for local causes. The staff at Lancaster work tirelessly through the year to raise funds for MITC.
Lancaster’s general manager, Angela Elgar, said: “Naturally we are delighted that our chosen school has won the ‘Best Story Ever’ competition and are especially pleased for Noah. Not only is Dolphinholme physically just down the road, it’s also very close to us because a lot of members of staff have children who go there. It’s a great little school.”
