YOUNG performers are being invited to join in the first-ever spoken word competition for this year's Isle of Wight Day.
Organisers of this year's event are challenging participants on the subject of Words of Wight: My Island Life, with the winners invited to perform on the Isle of Wight Day stage on September 23.
Each Island school will select one from each of the following age categories: primary (four to seven years), juniors (eight to 11), secondary (12 to 15) and young adults (16 to 18 years).
Individual and team entries are also invited to take part.
The competition - to find the Island's most talented schoolboy or girl who can perform poetry or prose - is inspired by the huge success of recent spoken word and poetry 'slam' competitions.
Performances can include short or rhymed prose, poetry, Haiku, limericks, odes, rap or MCing.
Each performance - which will form part of Isle of Wight Day's big stage presentation, Island's Got Talent, being run in partnership with Rob da Bank - must be no more than three minutes' long.
The competition is designed to link with the National Curriculum's spoken English targets, with all Island schools urged to confirm their interest by registering on the schools page of the Isle of Wight Day website: www.isleofwightday.com/schools/
Competition organiser, Karen Rivlin, said: "We're encouraging schools to ensure their pupils' voices are heard as part of Isle of Wight Day. Schools have an essential role in our wonderful Island community and by participating in this new competition, they'll be able to make a positive contribution to our Island celebrations."
All age group winners will receive a trophy and all participants, a certificate.