A guide for headteachers and school leaders

< 500 Words< Everything about 500 Words

Every child has a story waiting to be told!

Our partner, HeadteacherChat, has created a fantastic collection of free resources to help schools fill their classrooms with imagination, creativity and the joy of writing.

Download a Guide for School Leaders, a ready-made assembly, and an editable parent and carer permission letter below. You can also visit the HeadteacherChat website to watch two practical webinars exploring why writing for enjoyment matters, and how to bring the BBC 500 Words competition to life in your school.

Everything has been designed to make taking part simple, joyful and manageable for busy schools.

Find out more about HeadteacherChat

Lucy Coy, co-founder of HeadteacherChat and previous school leader, shares her thoughts on how headteachers can embrace 500 Words this year and the benefits it can bring to your school.

As experienced school leaders, we knew school leadership should be connected, creative, and inspiring – but it didn’t always feel that way. That’s why we created HeadteacherChat – a vibrant, energising community where school leaders, senior staff, and planners come together to swap ideas, share their passion, and lift each other up.

The BBC 500 Words Competition embodies so much of what we value: creativity, confidence, and the joy of learning. By taking part, we’re not just encouraging pupils to write – we’re uniting leaders and teachers in a shared mission to inspire young storytellers, celebrate their achievements, and make literacy a source of excitement across our schools.

Together, we’re building something powerful: a connected way to lead where challenges turn into solutions, confidence grows, and the brilliant things happening in our classrooms are celebrated every single day.

Research by the National Literacy Trust has shown a worrying decline in children's and young people’s enjoyment of writing. Fewer children now say that they write for pleasure in their free time, and many see writing as something they only do for school, rather than as a way to enjoy writing at home.

That matters because writing confidence is not just built through technical accuracy alone. Children need opportunities to enjoy writing, to have a go at experimenting and exploring ideas, and to feel that their words are worth reading.

The BBC 500 Words competition gives schools a simple, positive way to respond to that challenge. It creates a reason to talk about stories, to celebrate pupils’ imagination and to remind them that writing can be fun and accessible for everyone.

The BBC 500 Words competition is a creative writing competition for children aged 5–11. Pupils are invited to write an original story of up to 500 words, using their own ideas, characters and imagination.

It is not about perfect writing. It is about encouraging children to enjoy stories, play with language and experience the excitement of sharing something that they have created.

Because writing matters. It helps children make sense of the world. It builds confidence, develops imagination and gives pupils the chance to express ideas, feelings and experiences in their own words.

As former school leaders, we know how magical it is when children are genuinely excited to share something they have written with you. It's what we loved the most about teaching.

We also love the inclusivity of the competition, rewarding schools with over 50% Free School Meal enrolment with a £75 National Book Token, while removing the barrier that many children face, as spelling, punctuation, and grammar are not taken into account. This enables every child, no matter what their starting point or experience of writing is, to enter the competition confidently knowing that their story will be valued.

The BBC 500 Words Evaluation Report 2025 highlighted the importance of this too, showing that the competition builds “creativity, confidence, and enthusiasm for writing in the classroom”, with teachers really valuing the fun, creativity and writing skills that the competition encourages

BBC 500 Words can be a brilliant way to start the year celebrating writing, offering a helpful snapshot of children’s writing at the beginning of the year. It can also show what pupils are interested in, how they express themselves, and where confidence with writing may need to be built.

The competition is a great way to:

• Celebrate stories and writing across the whole school

• Encourage your pupils to write creatively and confidently

• Give pupils a meaningful reason to write

• Encourage imagination, vocabulary and storytelling

• Showcase children’s ideas and achievements

• Include all pupils of all backgrounds and all abilities

• Create a shared literacy moment for staff, pupils and families

• It’s easy to take part

• Competition opens: Tuesday 29 September 2026

• Closes: Friday 6 November 2026 at 9 pm

Schools should check the BBC 500 Words website for the latest entry information, resources and eligibility details before submitting.

Very. The BBC provides ready-to-use resources, including:

• Everything you need to know about 500 words

• Learning resources for teachers to use

• Ways to inspire children to write their best story

At HeadteacherChat, this is the kind of support we want to keep making easier for schools: taking something valuable, impactful and timely and helping you to find the simplest way to use it well.

If you are not already part of HeadteacherChat, this is exactly the sort of practical guidance we share through our community and membership throughout the year.

It’s really important that children of all backgrounds and abilities can take part, and so any school with 50% or higher Free School Meals (FSM) enrolment that submits entries to 500 Words will automatically receive a £75 National Book Token.

These tokens can be used to stock the school library or to reward those pupils who took part. To qualify, all you need to do is submit your entries by the competition deadline on Friday 6 November 2026, and eligibility will be verified by the BBC.

• Choose which year groups aged 5-11 will take part. Involve one class, a whole key stage, or the whole school!

• Share the BBC resources with teachers.

• A whole-school assembly can be a great way to launch the competition. You could share examples of stories, talk about where ideas come from, and ask for their initial ideas.

• Watch the Live Lesson on BBC iPlayer

• Submit your stories before 9pm on Friday 6 November.

You could:

• Host a story showcase or reading afternoon

• Create a display of story openings or favourite characters

• Invite families in to share stories they loved as children

• Link writing to current curriculum themes

• Invite an author or local storyteller into school

• Celebrate every pupil who enters, not just the final pieces

Need more inspiration?