How to Enter the Competition
To Register
Entries must come through registered institutions (or parents if home schooled), so if you are a pupil who wants to take part, make sure your teacher signs the school up. For teachers, please register your interest in taking part here. Following registration you will (if interested) receive some PowerPoints and files for handouts and posters which you might like to use to promote the competition.
Prize Categories
We want pupils to create a piece of work on the theme of 'Building Communities' which looks at ancient buildings/spaces and how these were used by communities in the ancient world. We are looking for entries from Primary and Secondary Schools. Entries from Primaries and Secondaries will be judged separately, with two Secondary categories (y7-10 and y11-13). There are three prize categories, as outlined below:
Minecraft
For those lovers of Minecraft, we want you to design a 3D ancient space, such as a temple, a marketplace or forum, a theatre, or any other space where communities came together in the ancient world. We want this to be based on an actual ancient space and not an invented one (though you can of course be creative in this, especially if you are rebuilding some ruins). We are looking for evidence of creativity and ambition in your design. For inspiration, you can find information on a range of ancient sites on our resources page.
The Minecraft model will be accompanied by a written piece of work (around 200 words) to explain how the space you have created was used by a community and why this was important for that community. Things to consider include: Who/what would you see in your space? What are people doing? How are people interacting with the space they’re in? Can you maybe link this to anything you are studying?
Your actual entry to the competition will be in the form of a video fly-through of your space (you can create a video simply by recording the screen on your pc, or by using the Xbox Game Bar). If possible, upload your video to your personal or school YouTube page, and then you can share the link with us to watch. Winning entries will be posted on our website and displayed on big screens in the Faculty of Arts Building here at Warwick.
[We are also hoping (if technology allows) to convert the winning Minecraft designs into a walk-through Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality experience here at Warwick. If this happens we will contact the winners to get hold of the designs in a suitable format that will support the required platforms.]
Creative Design
For those of you who prefer other types of visual or physical creative design, we have a second prize category just for you. The types of entries might include drawings, paintings, digital designs on an iPad or PC, and also physical building with Lego, cardboard or even clay - whatever medium you prefer using.
Again, we are looking for a design based around an actual ancient space, such as a temple, a marketplace or forum, a theatre, or any other space where communities came together in the ancient world. We are looking for evidence of creativity and ambition in your design. For inspiration, you can find information on a range of ancient sites on our resources page.
The creative piece will be accompanied by a written piece of work (around 200 words) to explain how the space you have chosen for your art work was used by a community and why this was important for that community. Things to consider include: Who/what would you see in your space? What are people doing? How are people interacting with the space they’re in? Can you maybe link this to anything you are studying?
To enter the competition, simply create your art work and send us a copy of it as a photo or PDF or whatever format suits you best.
The winning entries will be posted on our WCN site and displayed on big screens in the Faculty of Arts Building here at Warwick..
Creative Writing
And for those who like using words, the third category of entries is Creative Writing. What form this creative writing takes is completely up to you - it might be storytelling, poetry, drama or anything you like.
We are looking for a creative piece based around an actual ancient space, such as a temple, a marketplace or forum, a theatre, or any other space where communities came together in the ancient world.For inspiration, you can find information on a range of ancient sites on our resources page.
As with the other categories, this piece of creative work will also be accompanied by a short piece of writing (around 200 words) explaining how communities used, interacted in, and maybe were even created through these shared spaces. Things to consider include: Who/what would you see in your space? What are people doing? How are people interacting with the space they’re in? Can you maybe link this to anything you are studying?
To enter the competition, simply send us your entry as a Word doc or PDF or whatever format best suits you (perhaps a phot of there are visual elements). And the winning entries will be posted on our WCN site and displayed on big screens in the Faculty of Arts Building here at Warwick.
Submitting your Entries for Judging - Competition closes 4th June 2025
All entries must be sent by email via your institution to Dr Paul Grigsby - email paul dot grigsby at warwick dot ac dot uk
All entries must be accompanied by a short written piece (around 200 words) explaining how communities used, interacted in, and maybe were even created through these shared spaces.
Please provide the following information with each entry: name of entrant, school, and year group.
- Written elements (creative writing entries plus the written accompaniments to the entries) must be sent as Word docs or PDFs. If the written entry is handwritten/drawn, then please send as a picture file (JPEG/JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF etc) or PDF.
- Artistic creations should not be sent as physical copies but as picture files (JPEG/JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF etc) or PDFs of the artwork.
- Minecraft fly-throughs should be sent as a url for a video site such as YouTube, rather than sending us complete video files. Ask if your school has a YouTube site or equivalent video streaming site (such as Microsoft Stream) to upload your video to, and then the school can send us the url of the uploaded video. (You can create a video simply by recording the screen on your pc, or by using the Xbox Game Bar).
Any problems, email me - paul.grigsby@Warwick.ac.uk.