Darlington Students Home in on Writing Challenge

When students at a Darlington school were working remotely, we set them a challenge to write stories about our Coniscliffe Grange development in Low Coniscliffe.

The pupils at Hummersknott Academy produced more than 500 pieces of work as part of the competition which included writing a property review of our Nasmyth Garden Room show home.

The students also told us what they love about living in Darlington and came up with ideas on what makes the perfect family home.

Peter Clarke, English Faculty Leader at Hummersknott Academy, said: “The students really engaged with the challenge straight away and it gave them a great opportunity to produce a piece of writing for real purposes. With the current curriculum, they don’t get many chances to write for a real audience, so to do this for a commercial purpose was fantastic. It helps to prepare them for the world of work, which is becoming more and more competitive.

“At the time, the children were in isolation, so it was a great project for us to do remotely. We’ve shown that we’ve got some great talent in the school, from the youngest in Year 7 to the oldest in Year 8.”

Sharon Spinelli, sales and marketing director at Robertson Homes, said: ““The students’ work exceeded all our expectations, and it is clear a great deal of thought and effort went into producing some compelling reviews.

“It was fascinating to see what aspects of a new home appeals to children and how so many of them understand creating a home is far more than simply bricks and mortar.

“The children produced very persuasive content and were able to convey all the positive and exciting emotions which come with buying a new home. It was genuinely a moving experience reading all the reviews and we intend to use some of the work on our own marketing platforms as it was so good. We want to thank every student who took part.”

Robertson Homes offered more than £600 in prizes for the best submissions, ranging from £100 to £10 for 30 winners, which covered both writing and design.

Evie Wilson and Skye MaConnachie both scooped first prizes, with an additional donation of £500 for the English Department to spend on books.

We are looking forward to inviting some of the students to our Coniscliffe Grange development in the near future to help us make a video using some of their fantastic work.