Kit’s cheeky tale is up there with the nation’s best

Hill West Primary School pupil Kit Naylor’s creative talents were rewarded with a visit to Buckingham Palace as his story reached the final of the BBC’s 500 Words 2023 competition.

Kit’s story ‘The Cheeky King’ was one of many thousands across the UK entered into the contest last autumn and the Year 2 Kingfisher was thrilled to discover his work had made the final 50.

These stories have embarked on an impressive journey, split into three rounds of judging. Volunteer judges whittled down 44,000 entries to around 5,000 that progressed to round two, during which The Reading Agency selected the top 50.

The final round of judging was held at Buckingham Palace, where judges discussed the stories and seven-year-old Kit and his mother met and enjoyed jokes with Queen Camilla and Sir Lenny Henry.

Camilla hailed Kit as “amazing” and Kit joked to an impressed Sir Lenny: “What did the policeman say to his tummy? Don’t move, you are under a vest!”

On his return to school, Kit was introduced as a celebrity in the Key Stage 1 assembly before children enjoyed watching his television appearance on BBC Midlands Today, when Nick Owen interviewed Kit and others before their visit to London.

You can read and listen to Kit’s story here by clicking the link below.

500 Words 2023: read a finalist’s story from the 5-7 category – BBC Teach

Hill West Primary School is part of the highly-respected Arthur Terry Learning Partnership.