It was National Poetry Day on Thursday – the annual mass celebration that encourages all to enjoy, discover and share poetry.
As the artform’s most visible moment, it showcases the many ways in which poetry adds value to society and has the power to bring people together.
The aim of the event is to start conversations, encourage a love of language and, best of all, absolutely everyone can join in, quietly or noisily!
This year the theme of the day was ‘Vision’ and we were all encouraged to ‘See It Like a Poet’!
Here at St Edward’s, Head of English, Mr Hunter, started the day’s poetic activities with a live assembly shown through to the whole School via Teams. Mr Hunter took the watching students on a journey through the school grounds, hunting for poets in the style of a nature documentary. On his journey he found a number of students, dressed up as a variety of animals and characters who each read out a poem related to nature.
Our activities continued throughout the day with Years 7-11 participating in poetry slams, reading and performing poetry to one another. In Years 7-9 pupils were asked to deliver either a poem they enjoyed which was written by someone else, or they could choose to present a piece of their own creation. Students in Years 10 and 11 were challenged to learn and recite a poem from the GCSE anthology that they are studying as part of their examination preparation. Featured poets included Seamus Heaney, Beatrice Garland, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Blake, Christina Rossetti, Carol Ann Duffy and our current National Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage.
It was wonderful to see the students selecting pieces to read that meant a lot to them, and even better to hear a selection of our own students’ work.
Prior to the day students had been invited to submit an entry into a House Poetry Competition, by writing a poem on the theme of vision. Congratulations to the following students who were selected as the winners in their respective year groups:
- Year 7 – Agnes T
- Year 8 – Felix R
- Year 9 – Joe D
- Year 10 – Mia G
- Year 11 – Molly A
- Lower Sixth – Annabel S
- Upper Sixth – Elinor H E
