Blast to the past puts schoolgirls in winning position

The year 8 pupils entered by writing an essay as part of their religious studies work while in year 7. They were asked to put themselves in the shoes of someone or something from one of the Bible stories and write a first-person account.
Katie, from Amersham, said: "I chose a little girl who had a disease in the story where Jesus cured a man. She saw it and wanted him to cure her. It was difficult as I'm not religious and had to look up all of the stories. I really really like writing now but I didn't so much at the time so it was a bit of a first for me."
Lucie, of Stoke Poges, wrote from the perspective of Mary Magdalene, said: "I'm Catholic so I knew a bit about the stories but it makes you think about all of the different factors. When I found out we had won I was quite surprised."
The pair were invited on a tour of the House of Commons with the runners up and witnessed the official opening ceremony while they were there. They received their prizes from charity trustee Baroness Cox - who presented them with £500 for the school, some of which the school will to pass on to them - in front of their families and teachers last month. She also spoke to them about her Christian work in places including Darfur, Sudan and Burma.
Samantha Styles, a religious studies teacher at their school, said: "We think it's really excellent are are so pleased. It was such an achievement not just to get one winner from our school, but to have two from hundreds of entries. They worked very hard and we also got sent certificates and merits for some of the other girls."