A SCHOOL girl has beaten more than 20,000 entrants to win through to the final of a national poetry competition. Eight-year-old Rosie Scott, a pupil at St Francis College in Broadway, Letchworth GC, is one of 16 finalists in Pound a Poem - a national poe

A SCHOOL girl has beaten more than 20,000 entrants to win through to the final of a national poetry competition.

Eight-year-old Rosie Scott, a pupil at St Francis' College in Broadway, Letchworth GC, is one of 16 finalists in Pound a Poem - a national poetry writing competition in aid of Cancer Research UK.

Children aged seven to 11 were encouraged to write a poem about fruit and vegetables and every child paid a pound to enter the competition, with all money raised going towards research into children's cancers.

Rosie's poem, There Are Monsters In My Fruit Bowl, showed her winning way with rhyme and she now stands a chance of winning a family holiday in Barbados.

The 16 finalists will be judged by a panel which includes the children's laureate, author Jacqueline Wilson, best known as the creator of Tracy Beaker.

She said: "I am thrilled to be involved in Pound a Poem which is a brilliant opportunity for children to engage with poetry, through a theme that is universally accessible and important. I think it's a wonderful idea to encourage creativity."

Cancer Research UK fundraiser Jacqueline Fitzgerald said: "We've had wonderful poems and verses about everything from pears and pomegranates to sprouts and turnips - a real feast of ideas."

Results will be announced in March and all finalists will have their poems published in a special book, alongside a collection of fruity verses from an array of well-known personalities.

For more information, visit: www.poundapoem.co.uk

There Are Monsters In My Fruit Bowl

There's a large scarred, round face,

Staring at me,

Rough orange wrinkles,

and scary to see

There's a moon shaped banana,

with a black snouty nose,

and muddy brown spots

from his head to his toes

There are ruby red spheres

With rosy red cheeks,

Chattering, nattering

with there stalk pointy beaks

There are oval green goblins

tied up in a rope,

trapped by the mango

they've given up hope.

Rosie Scott

Year 3

St Francis College

Letchworth Garden City, Herts