Many congratulations to Maddie in Year 12 for winning the annual GDST Laurie Magnus Poetry Prize in the Year 12-Year 13 category.

The Laurie Magnus Poetry Prize is one of the GDST’s longest-running prizes, established in memory of Sir Laurie Magnus, by his widow. Laurie Magnus was a GDST Council member from 1907, and Chairman from 1929 until his death in 1933.

The competition is open to students with an interest in poetry. Each school puts forward one entry for each of the six age categories. Prizes are awarded for original poetry and each winner presented with £100 in book vouchers.

This year the poems were judged by Sydenham High School alumna and prize-winning poet and author Claudia Daventry.

Claudia commented that Maddie’s poem ‘Ode to Girlhood (& Paris)’ was “a tour de force: an enchanting and slightly sinister journey through generations of feminine life in all its organic stages.”

Claudia also said: “Another year of inspiring poetry, there’s magnificent work in here - some astonishing writing - and again it was hard to pick winners in each age group. Hearty congratulations to all the winners for producing such a marvellous body of work but actually also to all the participants - and to the wider influence of their teachers and families - just for giving them roots and wings.”

A massive well done to Maddie who is on a roll. This the fourth writing prize she has claimed this year! Earlier this term she won the GDST Creative Writing Prize and last term was runner up in the Classical Association’s Creative Writing competition two weeks after receiving first place in the David Selwyn Prize - she is clearly someone to keep an eye on!