Celebrating Creativity at the DLE English Awards 2026

19 mei 2026

This year’s DLE English Awards ceremony was a wonderful celebration of creativity, imagination and self-expression as pupils from DLE 2 and DLE 3 were recognised for their outstanding achievements in English.

The afternoon began with the Flash Fiction Challenge 2026 for our second-years. Pupils were tasked with creating a complete story in just 150 words, inspired by an “A-ha moment” or spark of inspiration. The result was an impressive collection of imaginative and thoughtful stories, covering topics ranging from dinosaurs and Formula 1 racing to memory, loss and friendship. Selected entries were judged in collaboration with the English department of the Hogeschool van Amsterdam.

We then turned our attention to the prestigious Marjel Visser Award 2026 for poetry. Third-year pupils explored poetry through both literary analysis and original writing, producing deeply personal and inspiring work. This year’s entries stood out for their emotional depth, creativity and wide variety of themes, including dreams, resilience, identity, grief and hope.

The jury, consisting of members of the English department, DLE teachers and previous winners, had the difficult task of selecting the finalists and prize winners from an exceptionally strong field of submissions.

Congratulations to all nominees and winners for their hard work, courage and creativity. We are incredibly proud of what our pupils achieved and grateful to everyone who helped make the event such a success.

Flash Fiction Challenge 2026 and the Marjel Visser Award 2026 once again showed the power of language, imagination and storytelling within our DLE community.

(Further photos will be added to the gallery after parental permission).