New release

2 February 2016

• Maxwell Fullerton from Vyners School in Ickenham, Uxbridge has been crowned as one of the two London winners of Royal Mail’s Young Letter Writer of the Year Competition
• Maxwell has won £200 in vouchers for himself and £200 for his school
• Maxwell, aged 12, has won in the 11 – 14 years age group and will now go through to the UK-wide final stage of the competition as one of 24 national finalists
• Maxwell’s winning letter was one of almost 100,000 entries received by Royal Mail from children aged 4-14 years-old across the UK in response to the question: ‘What is your dream job?’
• Entries were received from one in five (18.8%) secondary schools and one if five (22.6%) primary schools

A schoolboy from Vyners School in Ickenham, Uxbridge, has been named as London’s winner of Royal Mail’s Young Letter Writer of the Year Competition.  Maxwell Fullerton, aged 12, won the 11-14 years age group and wins £200 in vouchers for both himself and his school.

Maxwell’s entry, which was one of almost 100,000 submissions from children aged 4-14 years old, will now go through to the final stage of the competition where it will compete as one of 24 regional winners for the UK-wide crown. Entries were received from one in five (18.8%) secondary schools and one in five (22.6%) primary schools. Children were asked to write a letter in response to the question: ‘What is your dream job?’

Maxwell wrote that his dream job was to become a detective in the Metropolitan Police Service. In his letter, he explained that he would be following in his father’s footsteps if his dream came true, and how serving in the police ran in his family since late Victorian times.  He also outlined how he recognised the value of working as part of a team, and how he would welcome the challenges that such a job would bring.

The judges for the London region included:

• Caroline Wright – Director General Designate of the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA)
• Claire Spreadbury – Head of Features at the Press Association news agency
• Tony Fox – Royal Mail’s Operational Director for the East region (which includes London and the South East)

The judges considered Maxwell’s entry to be an impressive job application letter, confidently written and well-researched. They also liked the idea of him following on a family tradition.

Caroline Wright said: “Maxwell’s enthusiasm shines through and he engages the reader with additional colour and detail.  He comes across as a very confident young man, who is keen to follow in his family’s tradition of serving with the police.  If his dream comes true, I’m sure he’ll make his family very proud.”

London’s other winner, in the under 11s age group, was Iris Ferrar, aged nine, from Alleyn’s Junior School in South East London.

The submissions were assessed by a panel of regional judges on a range of criteria, including: correct letter layout and word count; good use of vocabulary; accurate grammar and well-constructed sentences; correct punctuation; strong and engaging content with originality and a compulsion to ‘read on’.

ENDS

Media Enquiries

Sally Hopkins

Royal Mail press office

Tel: 020 3338 1007 or 020 7449 8252

Sally.hopkins@royalmail.com

Note to editors

• Royal Mail has received 97,355 entries from school aged children up to 14-years old from across the UK in response to the question: ‘What is your dream job?’
• The national final will be judged by popular TV Presenter Helen Skelton; Royal Mail’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Moya Greene; former Children’s Laureate, Michael Rosen and Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust.
• There are two age groups – Group A Under 11s and Group B 11-14 years
• The 12 competition counties and regions are:

1. Scotland
2. Wales
3. Northern Ireland
4. London
5. South East
6. East of England
7. East Midlands
8. West Midlands
9. North East
10. North West
11. South West
12. Yorkshire and Humberside

*Prizes breakdown:

Prizes: a) The Regional finalists will receive £40 in high street vouchers and £40 will be awarded to their schools. b) The Regional Winners will receive £200 in high street vouchers and £200 will be awarded to their schools. c) The final two winners additionally will receive £800 in high-street vouchers and £800 will also be awarded to their schools.

JUDGING CRITERIA:

To reach the final shortlist, judges have taken the following into consideration:

• Where possible, we encourage the letters to be handwritten, legible and neat
• Correct letter layout and word count
• It is a letter written to someone or a body of people
• An overriding presence of the letter style
• Good use of vocabulary; accurate grammar and well-constructed sentences; correct punctuation all relative to age
• Strong and engaging content with originality relative to age
• A compulsion to read on
• A clear and supported “argument” that develops and reaches a powerful conclusion
• Where the entry is hand-written that it is legible and neat
• Overall good use of paragraphing
• Where the entrant has used humour, it is relevant and supports the overall mood and tone of the competition

The first Royal Mail Young Letter Writers Competition was launched 39 years ago. The competition aims to engage school-aged children in letter writing and help improve their literacy