Once again The Courier has been searching high and low for the most talented newsgatherers of tomorrow.
Our Junior Journalist competition attracted more than 450 entries from primary schools across Tayside and Fife.
With £5,000 of prize money up for grabs for the three best front pages, competition was fierce.
The judging panel of Courier acting editor Catriona MacInnes, graphic designer Gus Proctor and features writer Jack McKeown had their work cut out picking a winner from a wealth of superb work.
Ultimately, they chose a front page by Limekilns Primary student Rosie Donnelly as the overall winner.
The P5 pupil’s winning entry won over the judges for its professional layout and strong use of pictures.
Among Rosie’s exclusives were the discovery of a new species of bird, the tale of a band set up by an old lady, and a police investigation into a grisly murder. She even included a banner advert for a car dealership, ensuring her paper’s commercial viability.
The Courier visited Limekilns Primary to hand over her framed winning entry and a cheque for £3,000. None of the pupils at the school were aware Rosie’s entry had won our competiton.
The delighted nine-year old said said: “I’m very surprised. I really enjoyed writing my page. My stories all came from my imagination. I liked writing about the discovery of a new bird. I think I’d like to grow up and discover new animals.
“I’m really pleased the school gets £3,000. I’d like to spend it on a trip away.”
Head teacher Anne Marsh said: “I’m very proud of Rosie and the whole class. They all worked really hard on their entries. It was great having something they could work on over a longer period and to relate their writing to real life topics.
“We knew Rosie had won and so did her mum but we didn’t tell anyone in her class so it could be a surprise. We’re a small school with only 126 pupils so the £3,000 prize will make a big difference.”
Rosie’s teacher Sharon Ollis added: “The class loved taking part in The Courier’s Junior Journalist competition. All the ideas came from the kids themselves and they had some really imaginative stories.
“We watched Martin Brown who does illustrations for Horrible Histories to learn how to do pictures for the front pages. The children kept an illustration jotter to practice before they did their front page pictures.
“Rosie is really talented. Last year she entered St Andrews University’s art competition and came second.”
Mrs Ollis and Mrs Marsh say the children will get the final say on what the £3,000 prize money is spent on. As well as Rosie’s class trip, suggestions from her classmates included outside lunch tables, headphones, speakers for the gym and a class pet.
Runner Up 1
Our first £1,000 runner up was the work of Jude Harper and Fraser Maqueen at Eastern Primary in Broughty Ferry for their wildlife themed page. The judges were charmed by lines such as: “Helpful giraffes have been saving cats stuck in trees. Scary lions have teamed up with night guards to defend hotels. Last but not least diving dolphins have been life guards for people swimming in the sea.” In a lovely touch, The Courier’s masthead was made from animal shapes.
Runner Up 2
Our other runner up was Milton of Balgonie pupil Naisha Wedge’s fantastic tale of a science experiment gone wrong. It saw a chicken and a dog merged to form a “chicken nugget dog” which escapes and infects the rest of the world’s chicken stock, causing a global chicken crisis. Her wonderfully imaginative story was accompanied by a laugh out loud illustration of the chicken nugget dog.
Both runners up have won £1,000 for their schools.
Best of the rest
The winners and runners up were chosen from a shortlist of outstanding entries. Common themes included the environment, animals, science, alien invasions and outer space, with many referring to the well loved scientist Professor Stephen Hawking, whose sad death was in the news while the contest was underway.
Among the front pages that delighted our judging panel was the story of a shipping disaster investigation involving Titanic Mark II, a prehistoric shark and an underwater robot.
Another lovely entry accompanied tales of penguin parades, baby polar bears and an abandoned lion cub with fantastic illustrations; while the tail of the “Jamclaw” wildcat was accompanied by beautifully rendered drawings.
