An interesting competition
I have taken part in

12 – 14 years

Ever since I started schooling, I have participated in many competitions, such as singing, crossword and art competitions. But the most interesting competition I participated in was the quiz competition conducted by the Funday Times, which was held recently.

As it was about general knowledge, the members of my team and I had fun, referring many books, in order to improve our general knowledge.

On June 23, our team had to be present at the National Library & Documentation Services Board Auditorium. There were about 39 teams, and each team had five members. There were three semi-finals, out of which, ten schools were chosen for the Final round. This competition was held as a table quiz competition.

There were six topics; History, Sports, Entertainment and a pictorial segment were some of them. Five questions were asked from each topic.

Although our team was not chosen for the final round, none of us were disappointed, because it was an enjoyable and interesting experience. I hope that I will be able to participate in such competitions again.

Shanya Cooray (13 years)
Good Shepherd Convent,
Kotahena

My stupendous class

I'm in a class called Y6 (M).
In class we learn Science, English and Maths,
From History and Geography we get loads of facts.
Sometimes we play games and have fun,
Like in P.E. we run in the boiling hot sun.
But some lessons are really
boring,
When I look around I see people snoring.
For Drama we make awesome plays,
But we always listen to what the teacher says.
For music we sing lots of songs,
The hard thing is sometimes we get all the words wrong.
And don't forget Kandyan dance,
We jump, skip, jiggle and prance.
Now this year has passed,
But I'll never forget my stupendous class!

Medha Sharma (12 years)
The British School in Colombo

My favourite magical creature

9 – 11 years

My favourite magical creature in the books about Harry Potter is the phoenix. The phoenix is a large eagle-sized bird of scarlet and gold plumage. Unlike other birds however, it strangely never dies. At the end of its life the phoenix burns up and is reborn from the ashes. The phoenix gives its feathers to be used in wizards wands. A feather from Albus Dumbledore's pet phoenix, Fawkes, is concealed in Harry's wand and Lord Voldemort's wand.

The phoenix has three magical powers; first, the ability to carry heavy weights; then secondly, being able to heal serious wounds with their tears, which are thick and pearly and thirdly, being, extremely faithful. Fawkes showed all three powers when helping Harry in the Chamber of Secrets.

The song of the phoenix which is very beautiful, also encourages people who are faithful to its owner. The sound of Fawkes singing gave Harry courage when facing the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. The phoenix song also formed one high quivering note to tell Harry 'don't break the connection,' when fighting with Lord Voldemort.

I like the phoenix best because it is useful and extremely faithful. But of course, since the phoenix helps Harry so much I like it a lot.

Shanela Ranaraja
(10 years)
Good Shepherd Convent,
Kandy