11 November 2022
The Federation of Finnish-British Societies annual English Essay Writing Competition was held for the 39th time on the 31st of August and 1st of September 2022. The essay titles on these two dates were posted on the Helsinki Finnish-British Society website for download on the competition day. Teachers then sent in the best essays of their schools, and in all 64 shortlisted essays were received from a total of 50 schools throughout Finland.
The jury was composed of five judges, including representatives from the Finnish National Agency for Education, the Finnish-British Society and the Association of Teachers of English in Finland. The judges gave first prize to Cecilia Sippola from Ressun lukio for her historical story, a poetic and elaborate description of the destruction of Pompeii and its effect on an individual. A special mention from the judges goes to Sara Boye from Ressun lukio for her touching depiction of a childhood memory.
The standard of essays was as usual extremely high. The writers were extremely candid in exposing their feelings, the anxiety and darkness of the essays mirroring the world situation today. The judges would like to congratulate the winner and the runners-up and thank all those who took part in the competition, not forgetting the English teachers who organized the competition in schools. The competition will return to the original timetable next year and take place in mid-January 2023.
Päivi Kuivalainen
Chair, Essay Writing Competition
| First prize | 500€ for a trip to the UK |
| Cecilia Sippola | Ressun Lukio |
| Runner up prizes | books |
| Sara Boye | Ressun lukio |
| Silja Häkkinen | Helsingin normaalilyseo |
| Kerttu Kalliokoski | Ressun lukio |
| Eila Paananen | Jyväskylän normaalikoulun lukio |
| Elo Paulorinne | Tampereen yhteiskoulun lukio |
| Helmi Saarenketo | Etelä-Karjalan IB-lukio, Lappeenrannan Lyseon lukion toimipiste |
| Elli-Julia Saarnio | Turun klassillinen lukio |
| Erika Sokeila | Tampereen lyseon lukio |
| Kastiel Taipale | Ressun lukio |
| Ovee Tulaskar | Tampereen lyseon lukio |
31 August 2022
THE WRITING COMPETITION ESSAY TOPICS ARE:
| 1. Change is constant, how do I cope? |
| 2. My generation. Write an essay describing your generation, the concerns you have, the joys or benefits you may have, the things that differentiate your generation from that of your parents. |
| 3. The best language in the world |
| 4. Why we should be kind. |
| 5. Write an imaginative story that begins: “I could hear laughter but could see no one.” |
Good luck!
16 June 2022
AN INVITATION TO TAKE PART IN AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE WRITING COMPETITION
For the 39th time, the Federation of Finnish-British Societies together with Finnish-British Society Helsinki (Finnbrit) is organising the annual national English language writing competition for those students who started Lukio (upper secondary school) in 2022.
PRIZES
The first prize is 500€, which is to be put towards traveling to the UK (tickets refunded after purchase). The prizes for the nine runners up are novels in English.
RULES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Each teacher will arrange an invigilated writing event for the essay writing on either Wednesday 31 August or Thursday 1 September 2022. The essay topics are published on the www.finnbrit.fi website on 31 August 2022 at 8:00 a.m.
Only those students who started Lukio in 2022 can take part. The essay writing time is 90 minutes, and the length of the essay should be 200-250 words (articles and prepositions count as words). Essays longer than 300 words will not be considered. The essays should be typed if possible. Each essay must contain the name and age of its writer and the full name of the school. Use of dictionaries or any other supporting material is not allowed.
SUBMITTING ESSAYS TO THE FINNBRIT
The deadline for submitting the essays is Friday 16 September 2022. Teachers should use their own judgement in selecting two essays per group or class (or two essays per approx. 25 students if there are many students not divided into groups or classes). Please do not send all the essays from the group or class you are teaching. The selected essays should be sent by email as pdf attachments to finnbrit@finnbrit.fi. They can, if necessary, also be sent by post to Finnish-British Society, Fredrikinkatu 20 A 9, 00120 Helsinki, in which case early posting is required.
THE PANEL OF JUDGES
The panel of judges consists of representatives from the Finnish National Agency for Education, Helsinki University, the Association of Teachers of English in Finland, and Finnbrit.
ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS
The prize winners will be announced on the Finnbrit website on Friday 11 November 2022. The book prizes and certificates will be sent to each school. The winner of the first prize will be contacted through the school.
Finnbrit reserves the right to publish the winner’s name, the name of the school, as well as the winning essay on its website Finnbrit and in the Federation of Finnish-British Societies printed magazine.