Central Bedfordshire Council news and press releases

Library and teachers help inspire local schoolgirl’s literary success

Monday, 8 July 2019

Local schoolgirl, Nyah Atkinson of Thornhill Primary School in Houghton Regis, has made it through to the recent semi-final of BBC Radio 2’s prestigious ‘500-words’ story writing competition.

‘500 Words’ is the UK’s most successful short story-writing competition for children between the ages of 5 and 13. Over 110,000 stories are believed to have entered this year, and over 20,000 schools participated. Nyah’s story, called ‘Star and Moon and the Legend of Fun Island’, was one of only 5,000 to make it to the semi-final.

Whilst Nyah as an 8-year-old perhaps can’t fathom the enormity of this achievement, her mother felt compelled to write a letter to the school and local library services to thank them for the part they had to play.

Nyah’s mum, Cassandra Philip, said: “Nyah is not the best nor the weakest reader in her class: She is just a regular child, but my daughter loves to read.

"Whilst fostering a love of reading often starts at home, she would never have had the confidence to create and send an entry into a national literary competition without certain other important people and places contributing to her belief and passion.

"The teachers’ energy and enthusiasm at Thornhill Primary School has made a huge impression on her, and they been supporting Nyah’s writing throughout this year, going above and beyond. But we also owe a huge thank-you to Houghton Regis Library: the staff and the selection of books, plus the innovative lure of their ‘Lego club’ has helped us surround ourselves with books every Saturday morning.

"I want to thank the library staff for their great work, and for the council’s investment in the local library. It is my hope that, although we now have an incredible and sparkly new library at the Dunstable Centre, that Houghton Regis library will continue to inspire others to read and write. Your Summer Reading Challenges in particular are fantastic!"

Councillor Ian Dalgarno, our Executive Member for Community Services, said: “We are delighted to hear of young Nyah’s success, and congratulate her on getting to the semi-finals of this important national competition. We are especially pleased to hear how our local library and its staff have played such a role in fostering her literary skills.

"Taking your child to the library and letting them choose their own books can be a fun adventure, and part of them learning to love books. We have a huge stock of books of all types and genres, and you can borrow great children’s books for free from your local library. This means you can have lots of books in your home for your child to read and explore – and it won’t cost you a penny. Our libraries also hold a wide range of free regular sessions with rhymes and storytelling to spark your child's imagination and stimulate curiosity, and toys and electronics to help educate and develop analytical thinking."

Our libraries hold regular craft sessions and children’s MakerSpace; Sensory Sessions for under 5s; Toddler Tales for under 5s; Rhymetime for under 5s; Lego, Duplo, K’nex and Mega Blocks activities; Minecraft Club; adult coffee mornings; Colour-me-calm and Knit & Knatter both every Friday.

Follow our libraries on Twitter or visit us on Facebook.