6th November 2017

Dear Parent or Guardian

Your child has chosen to enter a competition run by the English Faculty to win a place as one of two pupils to represent our college on the First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours Programme. This is a national programme funded by the Government to commemorate the First World War.

The Battlefields Tour is fully funded, but parents of children taking part would have to provide the documentation listed below. The tour travels overseas from Folkestone to Calais on the Eurotunnel so it is imperative that your child has the following documents when travelling:

• A full passport which is valid for the duration of the stay• Supporting documents if travelling on a non-EU passport• An EHIC card – for more details please visit

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx• Travel Insurance - this is provided by the school

The tours are coach tours and begin with students and teachers being picked up from pre-arranged meeting points which are usually service stations or coach and rail stations. Your child will travel by executive coach with students from up to 14 other schools from our region to the battlefields of the Ypres Salient (Belgium) and the Somme (France). Your child will be away for 3 nights/4 days on a tour from the 2nd to the 5th March 2018.

If your child is successful in winning the competition, then more details will be sent to you. However, it is worth mentioning at this point that if you agree to your child taking part, you are agreeing that their personal First World War related story, schoolwork, audio or audio-visual recordings and still images featuring them, may appear on the First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours Programme and Equity websites and possibly used for publicity purposes on the radio, TV, online and/or in print.

For the English Literature tour in March, we will be accompanied by the author Hilary Robinson who will explore with us the context of her book, ‘A Song for Will – the Lost Gardeners of Heligan’. We will visit some of the key landmarks she has written about, including Dud Corner Cemetery in Loos and Thiepval Memorial on The Somme. Robinson’s book follows the gardeners and outdoor staff of the Cornish estate who enlisted following the outbreak of war.

For the competition, in keeping with this idea, we are asking students to write a fictional entry based on a real event. They need to research a Cornish landmark or a Cornish inhabitant with a link to World War One, and then write a short story or a poem that reflects that person’s experience or the way in which a Cornish landmark, village or town was altered by the war. They could, for example, research the gardeners of Heligan for themselves and write a poem or a story or a play about their lives going from Heligan Gardens to the battlefields of the First World War. Or, they could research HMS Defiance at Saltash and explore its role in the war. Poldhu, as another example, was also a significant place in the First World War, as it was from here that the first public announcement of war was made. These are just some examples of Cornish people and places involved in the First World War.

Head of College: Mr W Jenkins Executive Headteacher: Mrs D Bryant Tel: 01326 572685Fax: 01326 572183Church Hill, Helston, Cornwall. TR13 8NREmail: enquiries@helston.cornwall.sch.ukwww.helston.cornwall.sch.uk

All competition entries must be fiction, but based on a true event or a real character. There is no strict word limit for poems, plays or stories, but we would ask students to try to stick to no more than 1000 words. Entries can, of course, be shorter.

All entries must be typed (students can access computing facilities at Homework Club in C7 after school, if required) on A4 paper, and must be clearly marked with a name and tutor group. Students should then hand their work to Mrs Ross-Macdonald in C10. The entries will be judged by members of staff who are not going on the trip. THE CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES IS 15th DECEMBER.

I wish your child good luck with their entry and thank them for taking part in this competition to win a fantastic opportunity.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Ross-MacdonaldEnglish Faculty

The Battlefields Tour Competition

I am happy to allow my child, _________________, in Tutor Group _____, to enter the English Literature Competition. I am aware that the prize is a trip to the World War One Battlefields in France and Belgium from the 2nd to 5th March.

Signed:

Print Name:

Please return reply slip to Mrs Ross-MacDonald in C10.