Results are in for the 2025 Autumn Competition for Schools

Record numbers of 12–14 year olds entered the 2025 Autumn Competition for Schools. The theme was ‘The World’s War – Forgotten Armies.’ Students were invited to think about the contribution made to the war by people from outside Europe, from the Empire and beyond. They were asked to write a speech or a poem that could be read at a Remembrance Service, or to design a wreath or memorial that commemorated an overlooked group of participants.

Many of the entries were outstanding, making judging very difficult. The speeches were often very well researched and demonstrated a strong sense of audience, while the use of language in the poems often made them very moving. Fewer students chose the art option, but there were some creative entries which made creative use of appropriate imagery to represent different nations.

Winning students were:

• Reon E-M – Alec Hunter Academy, Essex
• Dylan H – Royal Grammar School, Worcester
• Oliver P – Royal Grammar School, Worcester
• Amelia R-R – Crestwood School, Dudley
• Seth B – High Storrs School, Sheffield
• Sai N M – Altrincham Girls' Grammar School
• Shinza F – Altrincham Girls' Grammar School
• Anania F – King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys, Handsworth
• Sufyan K – King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys, Handsworth
• Rahim R – King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys, Handsworth

23 other students were awarded Runner Up prizes and 50 students received certificates of commendation. They came from schools all over the UK – from Edinburgh; Newport, Wales; Sussex; and Newcastle upon Tyne.

They, and their teachers, deserve to be congratulated.

The Porters’ March

by Sufyan K – King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys, Handsworth

We carried the war upon our backs,
 through fevered jungle, dust, and rain.
 The rifles bit deep into our flesh,
 and silence held our pain.

No medal pinned upon our chests,
 no bugle spoke our name.
 We trudged through smoke that was not ours,
 and vanished from the frame.

The mules grew thin — we bore their load,
 their harness cut our skin.
 The path was death, the march unending,
 yet still we trudged within.

The British boys had boots and song,
 and spoke of home and right.
 We had bare feet and whispered prayers,
 and vanished from the light.

The doctor came for those in camps,
 but not for men like we.
 We buried friends in secret soil,
 beneath the banyan tree.

Through thorn and thirst, through sleepless nights,
 we hauled the empire’s might.
 They called us shadows, beasts of toil —
 yet we endured the fight.

When thunder ceased and guns grew still,
 our names were lost to fame.
 Yet footprints mark the silent hills,
 and whisper of our claim.

We carried more than guns and shells;
 we bore the weight of men —
 their hope, their fear, their broken dreams,
 again, and yet again.

Now silence marches where we walked,
 through fevered air and rain.
 But memory treads those roads once more,
 and speaks our names again.

So when the bugle cuts the sky,
 and poppies flame once more,
 remember those whose voices fade —
 the porters of the war.

Inspired by David Olusoga's The World’s War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire.

Author’s note

This poem honours the African porters who carried weapons, supplies, and hope through the jungles of East Africa during the First World War. Many never returned, and their contributions have been largely forgotten.  As a Bangladeshi student, I feel compelled to recognise the roles played by people from across the world in this conflict. I hope their courage and sacrifice are finally remembered and valued.