District “A” Police Station – PROSE/POETRY COMPETITION 2025: “Don’t Despise My Youth; I have an Opinion!”

DISTRICT ‘A’ POLICE STATION
PROSE AND POETRY COMPETITION 2025
RULES & GUIDELINES

The District “A” Police Station is inviting all public and private, primary and secondary school students to participate in its PROSE/POETRY COMPETITION 2025 on the topic “Don’t Despise My Youth; I have an Opinion!”

  1. The contest targets:
    • At the Primary Level: Classes 3 and 4 students (Ages 9 – 11). Each participant must submit ONE genre (Essay/Poem). Each school should submit five (5) entries per genre, a total of ten (10) entries.
    • At the Secondary Level: Juniors (1st – 3rd Years); Seniors (4th – 6th Years). Each participant is required to submit ONE genre (Essay/Poem). Each school should submit five (5) entries per genre, per age category, a total of ten (10) entries.
  2. The participant’s name shall NOT be typed on the ENTRY itself; instead, the National ID number (XXXXXX-XXXX) should appear on each page (where applicable) to allow for anonymity of student and school during the judging process.
  3. All entries MUST be neatly presented and clearly typed on 8 ½ x 11-inch paper and MUST be the participant’s ORIGINAL work, expressed in his/her own words.
  4. Line spacing should be double spaced (Essay); 1.5 lines (Poetry).
  5. Font size should be 12 pt.
  6. Each entry must be uploaded via the Registration link: https://forms.gle/Jtx8e4NXoZw5Swc69
  7. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: Each school, via the focal point/teacher, must submit the original entries on or before Sunday, April 6, 2025 by 11:59 p.m.
  8. All entries, including all rights to publish or produce the essays & poems (using the entrant’s name & image), become the property of The Barbados Police Service (TBPS).

PROSE (40 points)

  1. Primary Level: Participants will be required to write an essay (200 – 250 words) which focuses on the topic “Don’t Despise My Youth; I have an Opinion!”
  2. Secondary Level: Participants will be required to write an essay (250 – 300 words) which focuses on the topic “Don’t Despise My Youth; I have an Opinion!”
  3. The essay will be judged on the following criteria:
    • CONTENT (20 Points): Adequacy of content; Relevance to theme
    • ORGANISATION/STRUCTURE (10 points): Sequencing; Arrangement
    • EXPRESSION (10 points): Use of Language/Word choice; Grammar/Mechanics
  4. Each entry must include the word count at the end of the essay as the word limit will be STRICTLY emphasized.

Essay Judging Sheet

POETRY (40 points)

  1. The poem MUST be based on the topic “Don’t Despise My Youth. I have an Opinion!” and MUST NOT exceed 30 lines.
  2. The poem will be judged on the following criteria:
    • CONTENT (20 Points): Relevance [of content to topic]; Development [expansion of content on the topic]; Originality [unusual ideas on the topic]
    • ORGANISATION/STRUCTURE (10 points): Sequencing [of content]; Attention to form [consistency with features of the genre where applicable]
    • LANGUAGE USE/EXPRESSION (10 points): Diction [word choice]; Use of literary devices; Grammar & Mechanics [punctuation, spelling, etc.]

Poetry Contest Judging Sheet

Click to download POSTER_DISTRICT “A” PROSE & POETRY COMPETITION 2025

Click to download PROSE & POETRY COMPETITION 2025 GUIDELINES

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