Previous winners
In May 2009 the Jury met to decide the winning stories in the FBC/PROSPECT SHORT STORY PRIZE. The FBC Jury, made up of Baroness Joyce Quin, Tom Chatfield of Prospect Magazine, Boyd Tonkin of the Independent met at the House of Lords recently to decide the winners. Other jury members, authors Ian Rankin and Bonnie Greer, were unable to attend the meeting but both made their opinions clear in advance. After enthusiastic and animated debate, the Jury chose the winners for the two categories.Julian Barnes noted that the standard of the entries was "very high," with stories "creating believable and quirky characters-a real achievement in under 1,000 words."
First prize in the sixth form category was awarded to Clare Coggins of Headington School, Oxford
This story appealed to all the judges who commented that Clare had been very capable in writing about someone other that herself, avoiding transposing her own identity and perspective into the character and brought the situation to life. Clare was really pleased with the news about her prize and told us:
'Thank you so much for running the competition, I really enjoyed taking part! It was a great chance to be creative and I appreciate the opportunity very much.'
First prize in the Undergraduate category was won by Karis Fiorrucci formerly of Trinity College, Oxford
Karis was thrilled with his prize and told us:
'This competition really appealed to me and, after giving it some thought, I came up with the premise for my story, in which the glitz and spectacle of Paris comes to visit a small French town, catching our hero in its orbit. Gaston buys into the myth of the city and becomes intoxicated with Paris as the fulfilment of his own desires. I am very grateful to the FBC for organising such a unique competition. The story was lots of fun to write, and it has even inspired me to produce some new stories, set in the same town!'
Download Gaston gets his just desserts
First prize in the sixth form category was awarded to Caitlin Hart from London (2007-2008)
This story appealed to all the judges who commented that Caitlin had moved away from cliches of coffee and croissants and managed to evoke subtly the setting and atmosphere of this poignant story. Caitlin responded to the news of her win:
'I am absolutely delighted. Thank you so much for running the competition; it was such an amazing opportunity!'
Download Heat
First prize in the Undergraduate category was won by Sarah Collier from the University of Salford (2007-2008)
The judges were very impressed by this simple yet effective story of the inspiration behind the Statue of Liberty. Sarah was thrilled with her prize and told us:
'I found out about this competition through a course tutor, and immediately knew I had to have a go. I toyed with so many ideas before settling with 'The Face', and all of them seemed too complicated. I decided to go back to basics as the subjects I thought up were much too obvious. I wanted to emphasize that beneath our nationalities we are all the same. I started researching things that were linked to France, that you wouldn't immediately connect, and I suddenly thought of the Statue of Liberty. There was so much mystery surrounding it's inspiration, I knew that a lot could be done with it. Some of the most interesting fiction is derived from real life, and as I found out more about Bartholdi and Isabella, the face, I knew that a story had to be hidden away somewhere.'
Download The Face
Barshare primary School and Mainholm Academy (2006)
Barshare Primary School won first prize for their innovative project for pupils to exchange information about Boules and Bowls with a partner school in Joué-Lès-Tours. Over seven weeks pupils learnt the history and rules of the two sports, and then exchanged the information via emails and video links. Thierry Henry, at the time a prime example of Franco-British co-operation, took time out of his training to hand over a cheque for £1950 to thrilled pupils Stephanie, Robbie and John. The second prize went to Mainholm Academy, in South Ayrshire, to help them study and practise Handball and Curling in conjunction with a school in St Witz, near Paris. Pupils travelled to London to receive the cheque from Baroness Shephard, who kindly gave them a tour of the House of Lords.
Oulton Primary School and Canterbury High School (2005)
The extremely high quality of entries made it a difficult choice for the assessors but the jury, chaired by Gillian Shephard MP, decided to share the £5000 prize between two schools. The first prize went to Oulton Primary School from Staffordshire for a project on playground games involving the school and the older community. Current and traditional playground games were explored as were games played by francophone and anglophone children of other countries such as Algeria, Tunisia or the United States. The second prize was given to Canterbury High School, for a dance project. The prize ceremony took place on 12 July at the House of Commons.
Tile Hill Wood School, St Paul's C E Primary School and Dorothy Stringer High School (2004)
Tile Hill Wood School and Language College, Coventry, was awarded £2,000 for its project to put in place bilingual geographical groups both in England and La Réunion, in the Indian Ocean, through a comparison of environmental systems and sustainable management. St Paul's C E Primary School, Stalybridge, Cheshire, was awarded £2,000 to carry out an environmental project on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in Stalybridge. This project tackled a range of environmental issues such as air pollution, litter and water quality of the river, in parallel with their French Partner School in Armentières. Dorothy Stringer High School, Brighton, winner of last year's School Partnership Prize, was awarded £1,000 to continue its study of semi-natural habitats in Northern France and Southern England.
Dorothy Stringer High School, Penzance Junior School (2003)
The Dorothy Stringer High School in Brighton won the first prize of £2,600 for its proposal for a comparative ecological study of semi-natural habitats in both Sussex and Normandy including an investigation into the conservation management of these sites. Its aim is to raise pupil awareness of the extensive biodiversity of plants and animals in a range of areas. The second prize of £2,400 was awarded to Penzance Junior School for a proposal to investigate the impact of tourism on both the Cornish and Brittany coastlines, comparing the coastline and sea life in each area and investigating the possible causes of death of animals such as dolphins and porpoises.
Archbishop Michael Ramsey TC, Southwark and Priory Special school, Spalding (2001)
Archbishop Michael Ramsey Technology College in Southwark (first prize of £3,000). Their project is called 'don't waste it' and used email, internet and visits to look at recycling in different environments and how it affects the pupils' daily lives. Representatives from their French partner school were present at the ceremony. Schools from Nigeria and South Africa were also involved. The Priory Special school from Spalding, Lincolnshire (2nd prize of £2,000) has had a twinning partnership for 7 years involving year 9. Students have been examining with their penpals how they can improve their own green credentials and the exchange included visits to recycling and treatment plants in Britain and France.
Llanrumney High School, Cardiff (2000)
Llanrumney High School, Cardiff, won the award for a project on sustainable transport. French and British pupils will work together to take a critical look at the state of public transport and private car use in two big cities: Rennes (Brittany) and Cardiff. A group of pupils from each school visited the other to see the problems and solutions at first hand. They tried to find out why people choose to walk, cycle, catch a bus or take their car to work. They used their joint brainpower to devise questionnaires and do practical work, including traffic counts at a local level. A video of their work has been made and the students have made a drama production about sustainable transport which they put on in local primary schools.
Settle High School and Community College (1999)
The 1999 winner was Settle High School and Community College. Their project twinned every student in Years 9 and 10 by letter, by email and in person with students at their partner school in Herbignac in Loire Atlantique. Three departments – French, Geography and IT collaborated on the project, which included joint visits to conservation sites in both countries; exchanging information on local environmental issues and management; setting up a web site and publishing a bilingual book about the project. This included a Franco-British ‘jargon buster’ compendium of environmental terms.
King Edward VII Upper School, Melton Mowbray (1998)
The 1998 winner was King Edward VII Upper School, Melton Mowbray, a 14-18 Technology College whose pupils, together with pupils from two of its feeder schools and two partner schools in Ancenis, Loire, have been looking at how Local Agenda 21 is being put into practice.
Green Arbour Special School, Rotherham (1997)
In the second year the prize went to Green Arbour Special School in Rotherham for a nature watch project. The pupils built bird and bat boxes and worked closely with the local authority to develop a nature watch area next to the Rotherham International Centre, which accommodated pupils on visits from their partner school in St Quentin.
Durham High School for Girls and Bishop Ullathorne School, Coventry (1996)
The winner in the first year (1996) was Durham High School for Girls who submitted a proposal to work with their French partner school (the Collège Ste Jeanne d’Arc in Morteau) to develop and build a fully working scaled water recycling plant. Visits to the Centre for Alternative Technology and Durham University’s Biology department, as well as practical work in France, were included in the project. These helped pupils to plan a system to collect rainwater which would supply an automated glasshouse and top up the school pond in times of drought. A smaller prize was given to Bishop Ullathorne School in Coventry for a project on energy efficiency undertaken with their partner school, the Collège Bellevue in Lyon.