17 March 2023
The Federation of Finnish-British Societies annual English Essay Writing Competition was held for the 40th time on the 18th and 19th of January 2023. This year, the participants were third-year upper secondary school students. The essay titles were posted on the Helsinki Finnish-British Society website for download on the first competition day. Teachers then sent in the best essays of their schools, and in all 78 shortlisted essays were received from a total of 31 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 Oliver Melender from Martinlaakson lukio for his depiction of a day to remember, a touching and emotional description of the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War. A special mention from the judges goes to Vinda Lahti from Turun klassillinen lukio for a poetic description of a rainy day to remember when a painting was created by man and nature.
The standard of essays was as usual extremely high and the many years of English studies showed in the essays. 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 Essay Writing Committee
THE RESULTS OF THE FINNBRIT WRITING COMPETITION 2023
| First prize | 500€ for a trip to the UK |
| Oliver Melender | Martinlaakson lukio |
| Runner up prizes | books |
| Vinda Lahti | Turun klassillinen lukio |
| Kasper Hagros | Etelä-Tapiolan lukio |
| Maria Kajo | Tampereen yhteiskoulun lukio |
| Reetta Kokko | Ressu upper secondary school |
| Aino Kujari | Kerttulin lukio |
| Isla Mitjonen | Ressun lukio IB World School |
| Sanjana Mudigere | Ressun lukio IB World School |
| Saimi Nikkinen | Tampereen yhteiskoulun lukio |
| Venla Saarni | Lohjan Yhteislyseon lukio |
18 January 2023
THE WRITING COMPETITION ESSAY TOPICS ARE:
| 1. My special place |
| 2. What does being healthy mean? |
| 3. When I am a parent, I will … / Me as a parent |
| 4. Why we need superheroes. (Or, as a question: Do we need superheroes?) |
| 5. Write a story with the title: A Day to Remember |
Good luck!
8 November 2022
AN INVITATION TO TAKE PART IN AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE WRITING COMPETITION
For the 40th time, the Federation of Finnish-British Societies, together with Finnish-British Society Helsinki (Finnbrit), is organising the annual national English language writing competition. The 2023 competition is for those students who started lukio (upper secondary school) in 2020, as they were not able to take part in their first year of lukio.
PRIZES
The first prize is 500€, which is to be put towards travelling 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, 18 January or Thursday, 19 January 2023. The essay topics will be published on the Finnbrit website on 18 January 2023 at 8:00 a.m.
Only those students who started lukio in 2020 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 the writer and the full name of the school. Use of dictionaries or any other supporting material is not allowed.
SUBMITTING ESSAYS TO FINNBRIT
The deadline for submitting the essays is Friday, 10 February 2023. Teachers should use their own judgement in selecting two essays per group or class (or two essays per approximately 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, 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, the University of Helsinki, 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, 17 March 2023. 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, and the winning essay on its website and in the magazine of the Federation of Finnish-British Societies.