Sebastian’s tales wins national writing competition for young

A school pupil has won a national writing competition with a story about keeping your neighbourhood clean.

Sebastian Dechamps, from Bexley has been selected as the Key Stage 1 winner – and has seen his futuristic story published in a brand-new book.

In autumn 2021, learning company Pearson asked children and young people between the ages of 4–19 to put pen to paper and write their own stories and poems of the future.

The best will be in My Twist on a Tale: Our Tomorrow, alongside a collection of audio stories.

Scooping the award in the Key Stage 1 category, Sebastian’s work, World Tragedy, was chosen alongside 16 other fantastic stories and poems written by children across the country.

He tells the story of three different lands:

* Homshomina, where polar bears are brown with green heads so they can camouflage with the trees (the ice

* Netherland, where a plague is rampantly killing people, and

*Dog City, a fantastic place within Homshomina, with rich wildlife, no rubbish and no plague.

Using teleportation and cyborg skills, Basil – a dog – visits Dog City, following the death of his owner in Netherland.

There Basil finds his cousin living in a place where every family has their own kennel and can buy their own food.

Basil then shows the people of Netherland and Homshomina his new life. Amazed by what they witness, these people realise there is an opportunity to have a happier life themselves.

To achieve this they need to clean up their surroundings, and look after their wildlife, in order to create healthy places again where people don’t get sick.

Sebastian, who attends a local school in Bexley said: “I wrote my story because of the Covid pandemic. I also learnt about the Bubonic Plague at school, which gave me the idea about the Plague 1.112 being spread by fleas. The idea for Basil the cyborg dog came from my favourite toy.”

Over 1,200 school, sixth-form and college students entered the competition, unleashing their fortune-telling skills.

17 winning entries were picked across categories including KS1 through to KS5, and all regions in the UK.

Sebastian will receive his very own hard copy of the book as part of his prize.

Lindsay Nadin, Director of Primary at Pearson, said: ‘Sebastian should be extremely proud of the story he has written. His creativity and writing skills make him a worthy winner, alongside the 16 other young authors whose stories and poems ranged from earthlings zipping around on hoverboards, to the need for new laws to keep people safe.