Once again, well-known authors have written new pieces especially for TES readers. Anne Fine describes how she might have been an acrobat or a crack shot rather than a popular novelist; Michael Morpurgo remembers trying to escape school; Rachel Anderson relives her horror at seeing film of an abandoned baby during the Vietnam war and Farrukh Dhondy recounts an incident in which, as a child in India, he misunderstood the actions of his parents.

The other two pieces in the booklet were written by young winners of the Write Away 2 competition this year.

All six pieces are accompanied by teaching suggestions by Angel Scott of the National Association for the Teaching of English to encourage students to write about their own lives.

Young readers can take part in a competition, details of which may be found in the booklet, with generous prizes provided by McDonald’s Restaurants. Judging will be organised by NATE, and celebrity judges will choose the six overall winners.

A similar competition for primary pupils will be announced in next week’s TES Primary magazine with new pieces by Kit Wright, Raymond Briggs and Helen Cresswell and teaching suggestions by Lorraine Dawes of NATE.

As well as receiving pound;100 each and money to cover a writer’s residency at their school, the 20 finalists (10 primary and 10 secondary) will attend a matinee at Shakespeare’s Globe in London next summer. Winning entries will be published in The TES. If you haven’t received your copy or require extra ones (at a nominal cost) phone 0114 2555419 or fax 0114 2555296.

Heather Neill