Conditions of entry – writing wompetition

Students may write their short story on any idea that appeals to them.

• Please ensure that a signed permission form has been completed before a student submits a story or registers for the illustration competition.
• Stories by Year 5-6 students should not be longer than 750 words.
• Entries should be typed in 12-point Georgia font, A4 page format, with pages numbered and not include ornaments or pictures.
• One entry per student, please.
• All entries should include
  • Student’s first and family name
  • School
  • Year at school
  • Contact information for an adult (teacher or parent)
  • Story title, followed by the story
• Entries must be student’s own work, unpublished and not having won any other competition. Entries can be a narrative, recount or poem.
• Story line needs to be student’s own.
• Stories should be suitable for young readers.
• Before sending an entry, students are advised to run a thorough edit using the Criteria for Success document with tick a box.
• Student must submit their entry as a Microsoft Word document and not as pdf or scanned documents. All files to be named using the story title for identification.
• Entries should be emailed to info@tellmeastory.org.au by Friday, 25^th July 2025.

All entries are accepted for review and evaluation by our panel of reviewers. If our reviewers consider a story unsuitable for primary age group readers, a Participation Certificate will be awarded, and the story will not be included in the anthology. However, the story will be reviewed, and feedback will be given.

Examples of unsuitable content include (but are not limited to): gratuitous violence, descriptions of gruesome imagery, psychological or physical cruelty, unresolved menace, adult themes, disrespect towards others, ideas that could cause harm, or stories that may cause fear or distress for young readers.

Please Note:  Tell Me a Story competition organisers keep all personal contact information confidential. The judges are only given access to submitted stories and year level at school not names.

Story Writing Tips – Tell Me a Story