500 Pompey Words - Terms & Conditions
1. The 500 Pompey Words story writing competition is organised by Portsmouth
Museums as part of the events programme for the exhibition A Hard Choice
funded by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
2. Entry to the competition is open to children and young people aged 7 to 14
and in school years 3 to 9 on 30th June 2015 and who live in one of the 14
electoral wards that make up Portsmouth City Council: St Thomas, St Jude,
Central Southsea, Eastney & Craneswater, Milton, Fratton, Charles Dickens,
Baffins, Nelson, Copnor, Hilsea, Paulsgrove, Cosham and Drayton &
Farlington. Children of competition judges and administrators are not eligible
to enter. Proof of age, identity and eligibility may be requested.
3. Entries will be split into two categories
- age 7 to 11 and in school years 3 to 6 on 30th June 2015
- age 11 to 14 and in school years 7 to 9 on 30th June 2015
4. Entrants must write a fictional story of no more than 500 words (excluding
title). The story must be about one or more of the objects on show in the
exhibition A Hard Choice at Portsmouth Museum (excluding objects in the
Clocks and Watches display in the Community Collections Showcase).
5. Entries must be submitted using the entry form available at
www.portsmouthcitymuseums.co.uk . Entries must be typed in English on the
entry form. Entrants will be asked to provide their name, gender, age and
school year.
An adult must approve the entry and agree to these 500 Pompey Words
Terms & Conditions on behalf of the entrant. The adult may be a parent,
guardian or teacher. The adult must provide their own contact details (not
those of the entrant) and confirm that the story is an original work of fiction by
the entrant and that it is eligible for the competition.
Completed entry forms must be emailed as an attachment to:
500pompeywords@portsmouthcc.gov.uk . The heading '500 Pompey Words
entry' must be typed in the 'Subject' box.
If a story approved by a teacher is shortlisted as one of the Top 40 entries,
Portsmouth Museums will contact the teacher to ask for confirmation that the
entrant's parent or guardian gives permission the story to be included.
The personal data provided will be used only for the purposes of
administering the competition.
6. Entry opens on Monday 1st June 2015 and closes on Tuesday 30th June
2015 at 12noon. Entries received outside these dates will not be considered.
7. Entries must be the work of individuals, not groups, and only one entry per
child or young person is permitted. If more than one entry is made we will
only include the first entry in the competition.
8. Entries cannot be returned so please remember to keep a copy.
9. Entries must be an original piece of fiction written by the entrant and not a
description of real events. Stories can feature famous people from the
present day or from history and can take place during events from the past as
long as the story itself is fictional. Stories must feature at least one object on
show in the exhibition A Hard Choice. As some of the entries will be
displayed at Portsmouth Museum or published on the Portsmouth Museum
website entrants should not include any personal information in their stories.
Entries must be suitable for reading by a wide ranging audience including
children and must not contain offensive language or events.
10. Entrants hold the copyright on their stories but agree that Portsmouth
Museums may freely publish the complete story or extracts from it for the
purpose of administering, judging and promoting the competition. This
includes publishing the story online.
11. Entries will be judged on:
- Originality
- Description of the object(s) from A Hard Choice
- Plot
- Use of language
- Enjoyment
12. Names will be removed from entries and they will be read and judged by a
panel including staff from Portsmouth Museums and Libraries, Aoife Mannix,
the writer in residence for A Hard Choice and Portsmouth-based writer Dee
Kirkby whose publications include the Portal Series for children. A shortlist of
the Top 40 entries (20 from each age category) will be drawn up and then one
winner and two runners-up will be selected for each age category.
13. The Top 40 shortlisted entrants (20 in each age category) will be invited to
attend an event at Portsmouth Museum on Saturday 12 September 2015 at
which a winner and two runners-up in each category will be announced. The
full names and photographs of winners, runners-up and Top 40 shortlisted
entrants may be included in media releases issued to the local press and
published on websites and social media sites run by Portsmouth Museums,
subject to permission from parents or guardians.
14. The winner in each category will receive £30 in book tokens for themselves
and the two runners-up in each category will receive £15 in book tokens. The
two winners plus two of the runners-up will also receive a free session with a
writer for their school (as of 30th June 2015), home education group or out-ofschool group. These sessions will take place at Portsmouth Museum. A
travel grant of up to £100 is available for each of these sessions.
15. The decisions of Portsmouth Museums at all stages of the competition and in
the selection of shortlisted entries, winners and runners-up are final and no
correspondence will be entered into.
16. Portsmouth Museums reserves the right to disqualify any entry which breaks
any of these Terms and Conditions.
17. Portsmouth Museums cannot accept any responsibility for any technical
failures that may result in any entry being lost.
Portsmouth Museum
Museum Road
Portsmouth
PO1 2LJ
www.portsmouthcitymuseums.co.uk