POETRY corner was enjoyed by children at Ramsbury Primary School after one of its pupils was named South West winner of the Premier League Writing Stars competition.

Elizabeth Cook, 10, came out on top after 25,000 poems were submitted to the judging panel which included football star turned children’s author Frank Lampard.

Elizabeth’s poem ‘Will Not, Must Not Turn Back’ was selected as the winning poem for South West in the Key Stage 2 age group for children aged between seven and 11.

A special assembly was organised in her honour and the young poet read her work out in front of teachers and other children.

Teacher Debbie Lewis said: "We are so proud of Elizabeth's achievement. She wrote a fantastic poem and it was a very well-deserved win. It is an amazing achievement to think that out of over 25,000 entries from 750 schools that Elizabeth is the regional winner.

"Two classes from Ramsbury Primary School entered the poetry competition last November. My class were asked to write their resilience poem as a homework task. There were some very moving poems written, which brought tears to my eyes. In fact, another pupil from my class had his poem selected as 'highly commended' by the judges.

"I have some very talented writers in my class and now there is an even bigger buzz of excitement with their writing."

Judge Mr Lampard said: “It’s been a great experience for me trying to read through the lot of them and find winners when it’s such a high standard. Congratulations to all the winners but congratulations to everybody who took part.”

The winning poems will now be published in a special Writing Stars poetry book due to be released later this year.