It's that time of year again! Radio 2's 500 words competition has just opened, and runs until 22 February. Children aged 9 and under or 10 to 13 on the closing date can enter, and there are plenty of writing tips from Britain's top children's authors on the website. Thousands and thousands of entries are expected, so judges are being recruited right now too. The winners receive loads of books for themselves and their school, and will have their story read out on air from the Hay Festival on Friday 31 May.

Please see our Reading and Writing Competitions page for more current competitions.