The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Rosie hits the headlines with winning front page
The Courier visited Limekilns Primary to hand over the framed front page and a cheque for £3,000 to Junior Journalist winner Rosie Donnelly.
Neither Rosie nor her class knew in advance she’d beaten more than 450 other entries to win the top prize.
The delighted nine-year-old said: “I’m very surprised. I really enjoyed writing my page. My stories all came from my imagination. I liked writing about the discovery of a new bird. I think I’d like to grow up and discover new animals.
“I’m really pleased the school gets £3,000. I’d like to spend some of it on a trip away.”
Head teacher Anne Marsh said: “I’m very proud of Rosie and the whole class. They all worked really hard on their entries. It was great having something they could work on over a longer period and to relate their writing to real life topics.
“We knew Rosie had won and so did her mum but we didn’t tell her or anyone in her class so it could be a surprise. We’re a small school with only 126 pupils so the £3,000 prize will make a big difference.”
Rosie’s class teacher Sharon Ollis added: “The class loved taking part in The Courier’s Junior Journalist competition. All the ideas came from the kids themselves and they had some really imaginative stories.
“We watched Martin Brown who does illustrations for Horrible Histories to learn how to do pictures for the front pages. The children kept an illustration jotter to practice before they did their front page pictures.
“Rosie is really talented. Last year she entered St Andrews University’s art competition and came second.”
Mrs Ollis and Mrs Marsh say the children will get the final say on what the £3,000 prize money is spent on.
As well as Rosie’s class trip, suggestions from her classmates included outside lunch tables, headphones, speakers for the gym and a class pet.