OUR Newspapers in Education project has got together with East Lancashire Health Authority to launch three major competitions for schools to mark the 50th anniversary of the National Health Service.

Superb prizes of £500 for winning schools and £100 tokens for winning pupils to spend are on offer - plus many more great prizes for runners up.

The competitions are open only to schools within East Lancashire and will be judged in separate categories of primary, secondary and special schools, plus a debating competition to be arranged for 16-19 year olds.

Information on the competitions will be received by all schools in East Lancashire this week, inviting them to register their intention to participate by February 27.

A fact pack with further details and helpful hints will be sent to schools registering and the closing date for entries is June 1.

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph head office and district offices will act as collection points for entries.

Further details and fact packs can be obtained from Judith Roberts, East Lancs Health Authority press officer, 31-33 Kenyon Road, Lomeshaye Estate, Nelson BB9 5SZ. Tel 01200 441776, fax 01200 440122 (Clitheroe numbers).

Entries may be from individuals or groups of pupils currently attending any school in East Lancashire and within the following age groups: 8-11 years in primary schools; 11-16 years in secondary schools; pupils of any age in special schools. Prizes for both competitions are: £500 for the school of the winning entry; £100 worth of tokens to spend for the winning pupil(s); plus other valuable prizes for runners up. These superb prizes will be awarded to winners in all three categories of both competitions.

The closing date for registration is February 27 by returning the form delivered to your school. All entries must be in by June 1 to Lancashire Evening Telegraph offices at High Street, Blackburn; Keirby Walk, Burnley; Edgar Street, Accrington or Railway Road, Darwen.

Don't forget to include name, age and school address of entrant(s) on the back.

Poster competition

TO mark this anniversary in 1998 and raise awareness of health issues and health care among young people, East Lancashire Health Authority is inviting pupils currently attending East Lancashire schools to enter this competition.

You are challenged to produce an original poster on one of the following themes: A Picture of Health; Looking After Yourself; Health Matters; A Lifetime of Care; Fifty Years of the NHS.

The size of your poster should be at least A3 and any two-dimensional medium may be used, including paint, crayon, felt tip pen, pastel, collage - or any combination of these. Do not use computer graphics, photographs or any material under copyright.

Here are some tips to help you produce your poster.

A successful poster uses large eye catching images

Don't use too many colours or shapes

Keep lettering clear and simple - not too big for the poster nor too small to read from a distance

Look through newspapers, magazines and in the street for ideas of the way pictures and lettering can be used effectively - but make sure that your entry is your own original work

Make sure that your background paper is the right type for the materials you are planning to use

Try out a few sketches before you decide on the final version.

Newspaper competition

IF you are a pupil in any school in East Lancashire who can get together a few classmates to try your skills as newspaper reporters and designers, then this competition is for you.

And you could win a top prize of £500 for your school and £100 worth of tokens for winning pupils or one of the valuable prizes for runners up.

The National Health Service has been taking care of everyone in Britain for the past 50 years. To celebrate this milestone, we are inviting schools to produce a newspaper of at least four pages of tabloid size (A3) reporting on developments in health care during this time.

You will need to do some research into the history of national and local health care to make your choice of items that would make the best news stories. These could be events such as an exciting breakthrough in medicine, treatment or surgery or the development of equipment or opening of new hospitals. But don't forget to include individual human stories - these could be fictional but based on reality.

You may like to include a "looking back" report of conditions in health care before 1947, but don't go back too far into the past. You could also look at possible future developments in health or the health services - but don't stray too far from reality.

Why not look through a few newspapers for ideas - you will find that as well as news reports, headlines and pictures, newspapers also carry advertisements, features, information, letters and many other items that you could include in your entry.

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