A PUPIL of Netherthird Primary in Cumnock came second in a national writing competition.

Seth McKenzie joined other award winners at a presentation ceremony in the Jeffrey Room of Glasgow’s Mitchell Library.

They were all top performers in local author AH Proctor’s Budding Bloggers challenge for pupils in Scottish primary schools.

It was designed to encourage children, between seven and 11, to become more involved in all aspects of reading and writing.

The author, who wrote the popular Thumble Tumble Book Series which follows the adventures of a little witch from Arran, launched the contest late last year.

Netherthird PS was one of several schools taking part, as the children were tasked with reviewing a chapter of one of her books or, if they felt ambitious, they could review the whole book.

Classmates, parents and teachers accompanied Seth and his fellow winners at the awards ceremony as did Glasgow’s Lord Provost Margot Clark.

Their reviews could be positive or negative, as the aim was to encourage the children to express their own views by putting pen to paper, or even through a vlog online.

More than 500 entries were received, giving judges a difficult task of selecting who would be invited to the Glasgow event, which was compered by entertainer Alasdair Gillies.

Ms Proctor said: “The whole event has been a magical experience for me from beginning to end. It was an absolute pleasure to visit school children in East Ayrshire to get them involved, and then to see so many of them put pen to paper was truly inspiring.

“The standard of the entries we received was way above our expectations, with each and every review being outstanding. I am an author who writes fairy tales and today I got to feature in my very own.

“I have been telling stories to my two children all of their lives and in 2014 decided to turn their stories into books. Since publishing my first book I found I had a passion for writing and storytelling.”