creative writing club ks3

Creative Writing Club

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Creative Writing Club

Description of the activity

‘Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy of creativity is self-doubt.’ – Sylvia Plath

Creative Writing Club is a place for students to experiment with a variety of genres and forms of writing. Each group will be given a theme or prompt to inspire them to produce a piece of poetry or prose. We run internal competitions for both key stages as well as encouraging students to enter external competitions, such as BBC 500 Word competition, and the Northern Young Writers competition. Students will receive resources to aid them with their writing as well as teacher and peer feedback in a supportive environment.

Reasons to participate

Students attending Creative Writing Club benefit from improved literacy and writing skills. This will develop not only their skills in English lessons, but also their general literacy skills that are required across the curriculum. The group is student-led so students are able to write about what interests them and share ideas and constructive criticism with other students. It is an opportunity to pursue an interest in writing outside of the classroom context and to meet like-minded peers.

Day, time and Venue

KS3 Tuesday lunch times in Room MC9; KS4 Friday lunch times in Room MC12

For more information, please contact: Mrs. King (KS3 and KS4) or Miss Jackson (KS3) in the English department.

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Ms Fry has been running the Creative Writing Club since the beginning of the academic year, and she has been so impressed by the writing skills that our students have developed. The clubs, one for KS3 and another for KS4, are well attended and provide a regular meet up of like-minded students who can expand on their work outside of English lessons and learn new skills.

The first topic was poetry on the theme of 'Empowered'. The clubs entered a competition run by Young Writers, and of the 12,000 entries received, all our students work was chosen for publication. Young Writers Editor, Wendy Laws writes, "Having all of your students' work chosen is something to be proud of, it doesn't happen every day!  I was impressed by their writing - such a privilege to read and every piece will make a fantastic addition to 'Empowered - Voices Out Loud!' "

Well done to Megan, Imogen, Charlotte, Ella, Ashleigh, Helena, Tara, Kaitlyn, Jake and Paris.

Also, congratulations to 37 KS3 and KS4 students whose creative writing on the theme of 'Twisted Tales' is being published by Young Writers. Students enjoyed considering different perspectives of villains in literature and writing in the voice of a villain. For this competition, Young Writers received over 19,000 entries and again, all of the work submitted by our students was chosen for publication! Young Writers Editor, Sarah Waterhouse was very impressed by their writing and said the entries will make a fantastic addition to the publication. Some of the students were awarded certificates, which were handed out in assembly by Mrs Aspden and Mr Waller, photos below. 

The Creative Writing Club students also entered the Malala Yousafzai Connected Creatives competition in December. The 500 word competition had a record number of entries, and being a 'peer-voted' competition allowed fellow students (using the Connected Creatives platform) to vote for their favourite pieces of writing, submitted by students from all over the country. We were exceptionally proud when one of our students, Imogen B from Year 7, was shortlisted and her work recognised as a Highly Commended Entry. The 4 pieces with the highest pupil votes would be winners and we were so proud when we received this update from Ms Fry - 

"I'm delighted to let you know that Connected Creatives has been in touch to announce that Imogen Byrne is one of the four winners of the  500 Word Malala Yousafzai Creative Writing Competition . We are really proud of her work and thank you to the Creative Writing Club for reading the shortlisted entries and voting."

Mr Waller presented Imogen with her certificate and prize, a set of pens, in assembly. Congratulations Imogen! Photos from assembly can be seen below. Her entry for the competition can be seen here, click to see the full poem - 

Ms Fry says, "I am really impressed with the commitment and engagement of the students attending our new Creative Writing Club. Students' work is being read and judged by external audiences and it is fantastic that they are having so much acknowledgement and success."

The clubs run at lunchtime on Tuesdays in Room 14.  Come along to join in, be creative and have your voice heard. Well done to all who have taken part so far!

Creative Writing Success

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Writing club – How to set one up and boost children’s confidence

In the inspiring environment of a well-run writing group, children’s literacy skills will flourish – so why not set up your own?

Lynda set up a lunchtime writing club, ‘Buzzwords’, in her primary school. She began with Year 6 and, after a while, opened the writing club to children across KS2.

Children were given notebooks and encouraged to ‘loosen their writing muscles’ with a range of word hunts, lists and short writing exercises. She found oral anecdotes and memories powerful ways of engaging less confident writers.

She always read aloud a piece of writing to broaden the children’s vocabulary, ideas and structures, and to increase their literary knowledge.

A collection of simple writing prompts also proved effective – pictures, maps, word collections, opening lines and headlines.

Children were happy to find their own materials and spaces, under desks as well as at them, and to write for 20 minutes.

Lynda established an atmosphere of respectful attention so children who wanted to would read out their work. They were always keen to know their peers’ responses and became fond of each other’s distinctive humour.

Greatest success

In Lynda’s view, children’s increased ease with writing was the club’s greatest success. This was especially the case for children with learning difficulties who had previously under-achieved because of low self-esteem, and for able writers hampered by the limitation of prescribed or over-structured writing tasks.

You may have heard of the National Writing Project UK (NWP UK). Perhaps you have attended one of its growing networks of ‘writing clubs’, which since 2009 have been bringing teachers together to write, share their work and enhance their practice.

But have you considered setting up your own for your school’s children? As the example above illustrates, the results can be well worth the effort…

How to set up a writing club

On your own.

Firstly, start writing today! Fix a regular time when you can sit quietly, and aim to write for at least 20 minutes. Sometimes this will be easy, at others hard, but you need to gain confidence to write even when you’re not feeling like it.

Try out the ideas you plan to use with the writing group. Once you’ve done this for a week or so, you’ll be ready to start.

You don’t have to share any of this with your club or class, but it really helps to write alongside pupils, using the same prompts, and to be prepared to show, share and discuss some of the evidence.

With the children

Sound out your individuals and classes. Identify your keen writers. Discuss the idea with them. Establish a convenient time (lunchtime or after school), so that you can meet once a week for at least half a term before you review or change anything.

Engage your enthusiasts by word of mouth, and advertise. In a primary school assembly with about 300 children, one teacher announced the start of her Year 5 and 6 writing club with these words: “I will be doing this in Mrs X’s classroom at lunchtime. If you would like to come along, we’re going to be writing things that we want to write and, you know, it’s for fun, basically.”

17 children came to the first session and 25 to the second. The club is still running after two years.

Get them engaged

• Your club should be fun and stress-free, with a range of quick writing games and short challenges.
• Meet in a quiet place.
• Give each writer a notebook and pen, or encourage them to buy a nice one.
• Establish ground rules about privacy, experimentation, practice, sharing and reflection.
• Write alongside the children.
• Get to know and value the different voices.
• Celebrate diversity and withhold judgement.
• Be prepared for the membership to change over time, but keep the invitations personal and positive, and keep repeating them.

Quick writing exercises for your writing club

You need something easy to break the ice and ‘loosen up the writing muscles’. And if it’s a lunchtime club you have to have an activity “that they can do while they eat their sandwiches…” noted one group’s leader!

The following list may provide some inspiration:

• Newspaper headlines
• Opening and closing lines
• Lists of words
• Word tiles to arrange
• A simple stem-structure such as “I like…”, “I hate…”
• A ‘scavenger hunt’ of the place you are in
• Freewriting for five minutes without stopping

Agree beforehand whether this writing will be shared or not. It’s often good to have a shared and a private piece – that way children can get into the habit of trusting themselves to have a go, and of letting other, more considered, writing ‘brew’ inside them for a while.

Main writing activities

After a while this is best left to individuals to decide, but at first, some children may appreciate some guidance. Try:

• Extending your writing from one of the first exercises (take a word, idea or phrase as a starting point)
• Writing in voices or from a particular perspective – what the woman in the picture was really thinking; how the artefact came to be here; what the tree remembers
• Using snatches of overheard conversations or ‘found’ phrases to launch you into your own writing
• Finding an object/picture/view that interests you and write about it twice, moving your writing position/perspective to do so – once from one point of view, once from another

Again, agree beforehand how you will share the writing that takes place.

Establish ground rules, for example, listening to each other attentively and not being afraid just to say thank you. It’s useful to model how to respond to the writing process, rather than the product:

• Where did you get your ideas from?
• Which words/parts came easily and where did you struggle?
• What would you like to do next with your writing?

When children are ready to share, model attentive listening to tone and content (it helps to hear the writing before you see it).

This process may be better in pairs at first, but where possible it’s fascinating to read around the group and hear what different writing has emerged during the session from similar stimuli.

Taking it further

You might like to enhance your group by writing together online. Most schools have a VLE with separate forums that can be closed except to those who are password approved.

This enables all children to see each others’ writing and give feedback. A teacher of one Year 6 class said that the biggest boost to children’s writing confidence came from appreciation and suggestions from their peer group.

Resources for your writing club

The following items will help keep your children inspired for hours…

• Small boxes and envelopes, plain and coloured paper, card
• A range of writing implements
• Collections of postcards, pictures, quotations
• A book box with novels, picture books and poetry
• Magazines and newspapers to cut up
• CD/DVDs: music, short films or clips
• Ephemeral texts – newsletters, tickets brochures, catalogues and packaging
• A props box, hats and scarves, glasses, glove puppets
• A collection of objects – buttons, fir cones, jewellery, toys, bric-abrac, shells, stones

Once the group is established, it’s good to ask children to bring and add ideas, texts, objects, pictures, DVDs of their own.

This article is an edited extract of Introducing Teachers’ Writing Groups by Jenifer Smith and Simon Wrigley ( Routledge ), which is available now. It explains the importance of said groups and offers guidance on setting up your own. Browse more ideas for  National Writing Day .

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Creative Writing Club - Lesson Pack

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

3 March 2018

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Designed for a secondary school creative writing club that meets weekly for 45 minutes, with the aim of encouraging students to write in ways that they might not have covered in their English lessons, while learning about new forms and techniques for writing creatively. This pack includes ten lessons. Lessons are designed as one-off sessions due to students not necessarily being able to attend consistently. Lessons include warm-up writing activities or starter games to play; directed writing in forms such as kennings, constrained writing or site-specific poetry; focused writing using sensory description, the second person and specific themes; and examples of poetry or fiction writing that exemplify certain techniques.

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Creative Writing Club

Connecting budding young writers of all ages that can meet to share their personal work or collaborate to write together

Tutor: Tanith Pyner - our librarian

Creative Writing club is all about connecting budding young writers of all ages that can meet to share their personal work or collaborate to write together! Whether you’re a poet, an aspiring novelist, a screen writer or have an interest in podcasting, we welcome all creative writers to share their stories in a supportive and encouraging environment.

Activities include poetry writing and reading, learning about scriptwriting, trying out different genres and talking about your favourite authors and creators. We will have different competitions through-out the term, and also look at nationwide competitions where young authors have the opportunity to win amazing prizes.

With Halloween coming up, the Creative Writing club will be holding a Horror Story competition for the most hair-raising, blood-chilling story!

We’d love to see you there!

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Creative Writing Activities and Games

1) free-writing:, 2) group stories:, 3) found poetry treasure hunt:, 4) class blog:, 5) criticism-free sharing:, more resources.

• You’ll find additional teaching ideas and creative writing activities in Linda Leopold Strauss’s book, Drop Everything and Write! An Easy, Breezy Guide for Kids Who Want to Write a Story.
• You'll find a complete creative writing syllabus with lesson plans you can use on the main Teaching Resources page .

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