PRIMARY school children are to be invited to pen their thoughts for a new competition aimed at promoting literacy.

The poetry competition is the idea of Knutsford Lions Club and will offer a series of school and individual prizes.

The club is to invite entries from Key Stage One and Two pupils in October and November, and the poems will be judged before prizes are presented at an awards ceremony in January.

The competition will be divided into two age groups, five to seven and eight to 11.

Poems would be scored out of 10, and two schools with the most points would be awarded the prizes, taking into account the number of pupils at the schools.

The first and second prizes will be £200 and £100 respectively and trophies, and for each key stage there will be prizes of book tokens and certificates, £25, £20 and £15 for first, second and third.

Michael Goldman from the club spoke about the competition at Knutsford Town Council before seeking support for the initiative from councillors.

Councillors offered their wholehearted support to the competition, but said there was no remaining grant funding available for such a scheme in the current financial year.

It was suggested that the club submit a grant bid in the new year for consideration in the next financial year, a suggestion supported by Mr Goldman.

“The vital skill before leaving primary school is to learn to read and write,” Mr Goldman told the meeting.

“Anything to promote children’s interest is a good thing, and it is hoped by this scheme that writing poems will enthuse the children and enhance their writing and creative skills.

“The competition will be held every year from now on, and up to nine schools will be invited to take part.”

The winners, both schools and children, will be presented with their prizes at an awards evening.

The cost of running the scheme every year will include the prizes at £420. There are additional costs for trophies, printing and the awards evening.

Mr Goldman said it was hoped the awards would be presented by the mayor each year.

The awards evening could cost the club between £200 and £400, depending on the venue, refreshments and trophies, bringing the total annual costs to between £620 and £820.