The Queen Mother’s Handwriting Awards

The Queen Mother’s Handwriting Awards has been running since 1977. During a visit to the East of England Show in 1976, The Queen Mother expressed an interest in children’s handwriting. ‘Clear handwriting is an essential element of communication and self-expression. It is for this reason that I felt able to suggest to the East of England Show organisers, during a visit to the Schools Area in 1976 that I would support an initiative directed at improving children’s writing skills.’

Following the sad death of the Queen Mother and more recently Queen Elizabeth II the Society wrote to His Majesty The King. We asked if we could continue the competition in memory of his grandmother, his Majesty kindly agreed and so the competition continues.

The voluntary three judges, all past heads of schools, also select the poems for copying. These poems are carefully selected to challenge each class.

When selecting the winning entries the judges look in detail for a range of criteria. These include correct copying of the poem, letter shape, punctuation positioning, and the overall presentation.

We are pleased to announce the winners of 2023, this year we received over 2500 entries from schools across the region, 24 were taking part for the first time.

Details on how to enter the 2024 awards can be found in the handwriting schedule.