be in it to win it!
Many competitions with have 1000s of entries, but if you work out a good design and put a lot of thought and effort into your piece then you stand as good chance as the other entrants. In 2005, GGS pupils won five out of twelve of the first prizes in the Highland Council/Lyreco Calendar competition, even though there had been 2000 entries from all across Scotland! In 2007, our pupils won four first and three runners up prizes.
If you spot a competition and want to enter it, feel free to ask the art teachers for help and advice. We don't have time in school to enter every competition out there! In fact, an S1 pupil last year got through to the finals of a UK-wide competiton run by the Tate Modern in London without needing any help at all.
Check out past competitions and previous winners.
Top tips for entering competitions -
Read the rules very carefully. Many entries are rejected for missing a simple rule, such as the size of the paper or if it has to landscape or portrait format.
Think very carefully about the theme of the competition - the sponsors will be judging entries based on a theme, so even if you produce a beautiful piece of work, if it doesn't fit into the theme, it will not win.
Try out several ideas first before making the final piece. Ask your friends and teachers what they think.
Check out the deadlines - don't rush an entry at the last minute. Remember that work has to be posted a few days before the deadline to make sure it gets there on time.
Scan your work in and save it - use the art department computers if you like. Some competitions don't return entries to you.
