A DIVERSION on a hot summer’s day has landed an Oxford schoolboy the winning prize in a national writing contest.

James Bridson, 10, beat hundreds of young writers in The Daily Telegraph’s Michael Morpurgo writing competition.

Under 11s were challenged to finish a story in under 500 words after it was started by the famous children’s writer.

Magdalen College School pupil James was set the task as an optional summer project by his school teacher.

Contestants also had to take part in a summer reading challenge at their local library, and the family signed up at Old Marston Library.

James’ mum Dr Julie Lynch Bridson said: “We spend most of the summer in the United States and it was very hot.

“We were staying at my sister’s who has four children and on one day, they were watching an awful lot of television because it was so hot they could hardly go outside.”

Instead of allowing the youngsters to be couch potatoes, Dr Bridson challenged everyone to go off and write their own story for the competition – even the adults.

She said: “My husband did it, my daughter did it, I did it.

“That evening, my mother came for dinner and we all read our submissions – it was great. I was actually impressed with all their submissions. I thought they were really good.”

The Oxford Mail is backing the Oxfordshire Reading Campaign, and Dr Bridson was full of enthusiasm for the importance of the written word.

She said: “My daughter, Siobhan, has always had the super reading bug but James has recently really been very keen and reading an awful lot.

“We always read together at night and like to go to the library and stock up.

“Without a doubt, it’s probably the most important thing kids can do.”

The story begins with a boy spotting a seal and her pup on an island, separated from the mainland by a sandbar.

James, who has been writing poetry for several years and has his own website, finished the tale with a race against foul weather to reach the island.

It was one of the schoolboy’s first attempts at a short story.

He said: “I like stories where you don’t know what’s going to happen and I thought a lot of people would decide to cut the boy off on the island in the story, but I decided he would have to go there, but he would not get stranded.

“I have entered a few of these kinds of things before in poetry and usually you get a letter back saying well done but I have never won. I was very excited and surprised to win.”

James, who lives in Jack Straw’s Lane, Headington, won a selection of signed Michael Morpurgo books and his story was published in The Daily Telegraph.

CAMPAIGN GOALS

The Oxfordshire Reading Campaign was launched by Oxfordshire County Council, backed by the Oxford Mail, to improve reading standards in the youngest children. The goals are to:

Improve the proportion of children who reach Level 2B at Key Stage 1 to 86 per cent – a rise of 12 percentage points.

Increase enjoyment of and confidence in reading.

Eighty-one schools across the county, chosen based on Key Stage 1 results over the past three years, are being invited to take part.

The campaign is being run by the National Literacy Trust and will involve:

A reading intervention programme called Project X Code working with Year 2 children in up to 81 county primaries.

Volunteers coming in to schools to read one-to-one with the children involved in the Project X Code programme.

Training and professional development for teachers, assistants, literacy co-ordinators and headteachers.

SUPPORT FOR READING CAMPAIGN

Charlotte Dickson, Mayor of Wantage, says: "It is fantastic to start teaching children as early as possible and get as many volunteers as possible to help out, it can be quite time consuming for parents.

"I think if you can get children one on one, that is the best thing, but once you can read it opens up a whole new world.”