Every year we run our successful DSFC Writing Competition, this year the theme was Different Perspectives.  The purpose of the competition is to provide a chance for students to be creative and produce something outside of the subjects they study as well as to promote literacy.  The entries could have been a story, poem or an academic piece. We had over 50 entries, the staff involved found it very difficult to judge as the quality was extremely high. We are pleased to announce the winner was year 13, Lauren Jones, and Runner up year 12, Abbie Nelson, both receiving cash prizes, kindly donated to us by Potts Printing, for their winning entries. Well done to all students that entered.

Below is an extract from the winning piece.

Those sea telescopes from the time before, and the time now.  By Lauren Jones

“Anyway, the point is he was right. There’s more to life than what’s in the distance. It’s the stuff up close, the stuff of the present that matters. You could travel to every corner of the globe before you realise that what you truly needed had been right in front of you and you just hadn’t seen it.”

He had then turned to face me once more and said simply, “don’t make the same mistake I did.” He had then paused and pointed to the sea, “and don’t make the same mistake that we did.” Finally, he pointed to the beach where the amount of people had significantly dwindled, “and don’t make the same mistakes they continue to make.”

By this time the sun had begun to slip behind the horizon and the sky was full of pinks, purples and oranges. The colourful light reflecting off the dark water’s surface. 

“That telescope’s still there,” he had said softly, “because people still haven’t learnt to use it properly. But, do you know what the sad thing is?”

I had then shaken my head and so he had answered, “that we need to pay to use it. That you have to pay to see real perspective sometimes. That you have to pay to travel the world to see what was right in front of you.