First day memories

Four winning pupils, along with winners of our other NIE competitions, were presented with superb prizes of books from publishers Dorling Kindersley, at a celebration event at our head office last week.

The poem published below may jog the memories of older readers or inspire other young people to send us their own poems on any subject for possible publication.

YEAR 7

Looking so innocent,

Looking so sweet,

Looking so tiny,

Pretty and neat.

Fearing the teachers,

Fearing the classes,

Fearing the kids,

Please remember your glasses.

Forgetting her books,

Forgetting her money, Forgetting to kiss,

Her dear little mummy.

I know she's 11,

But I still seem to care,

Here she comes round the corner,

Look over there.

Skipping and dancing,

Glad as can be,

It's the start of year 7,

Doesn't she see.

CLAIRE ROBBINS, SS John Fisher and Thomas More RC High School, Colne, secondary school winner.

MY POEM

It's my first day at school,

I feel such a fool

Wherever I go

There's no one I know

And all around and everywhere,

People just seem to stare.

What am I going to do, I really don't know,

Five more minutes then the bell will go.

There's somebody there, a bit like me,

Who doesn't seem to know where she should be.

She comes over with a broad grin,

I think this is where the fun'll begin.

JENNA CAIN, 12, Witton Park High School, secondary school runner-up.

A STEP INTO MY FUTURE

My first day at school

I felt all nervous

What if I did it all wrong?

Slowly I walked up the school path

The door was so huge I felt like crying

My hands were shaking I was breaking out in a sweat

Slowly the door opened

I wanted to turn round and run away

Nervously I stood outside my classroom door

I went in 30 wide bright pairs of eyes staring at me

I had taken a step from my past into my future.

RACHAEL WHALLEY, nine, Our Lady and St Hubert's RC Primary School, Great Harwood, primary school winner

STARTING SCHOOL

I walked through the doors shivering like mad,

Saying goodbye to my mum and dad.

The children there were screaming, I had to cover my ears,

The teacher came out to greet us and said "hello my dears."

We entered the room and sat in a chair,

The girl sitting next to me said "hello there."

We introduced ourselves and played all day long,

And at the end of the day we learned a song

It finished off with Amen.

NICOLA GILLIBRAND,10, St Paul's CE, Hoddlesden, primary school runner-up.

Book reviews

PUPILS in year 6 at St Mary's RC Primary School, Bacup, have been finding out facts on a number of subjects by reading books supplied to the school through our Story Search reading scheme. Here are some of their reviews:

POCKETS BIBLE COMPANION, by Myrtle Langley (Dorling Kindersley) £4.99

THIS book provides instant access to Bible readers of all ages. Full colour photographs, maps and illustrations give us a clear view of the history of biblical times and show the Bible's most important stories and themes. Buy this and it will tell you everything you need to know about a subject!

LUKE DEMPSEY, 10.

DAILY LIFE IN A WARTIME HOUSE, by Laura Wilson (Hamlyn) £9.99

THIS book is based on the Allpress family, and shows their daily life during the Second World War, and they all have an exciting story to tell. At the beginning you are introduced to all the family, and then to all their interesting stories.

It covers everything you need to know about subjects such as what the inside of the house looked like and how Mrs Allpress took care of it and fed the family. Things that happened during the war such as evacuations, the blackout and VE day are also explained.

One of the best things about the book is the attractive original illustrations of how life used to be like.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the war. It is a very interesting book and a lot of fun to read, and is a good way to learn and remember historical.

SORCHA KANE, 10

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.