During the period of school closure due to the coronavirus outbreak, an English creative writing competition was held for students in YCIS and YWIES. The competition was organised in response to suggestions from teachers, as a way to encourage students to practise writing in English and to express their ideas in creative ways, even though they were not able to attend school in person. Students could write in any form, poetry or prose, and participation in the competition was voluntary.

Students were asked to select one from a range of photographs as a writing prompt. The photographs were all original works contributed by teachers from the schools.

There were more than 400 entries across four age categories. One winner and a number of “honourable mentions” were awarded in each category. YWIES Beijing students submitted some good work and won prizes.