On Tuesday 18 June, a group of our Year 8 students got through to the final of the inaugural Warwickshire School Poetry Slam! It was a real celebration of creativity with words and voice and it was wonderful to witness the effort, enthusiasm and confidence of our students.
Unfortunately we lost by a single point so came second overall, however, everybody performed well – with perfect timing, expression and audience engagement. Additionally, it is worth noting that a significant proportion of our points were gained in the ‘Enthusiasm’ category due to the whole team’s wonderful and exuberant support of each other!
So, although we didn’t win, as the event organiser, poet Matt Black said, “The point is not the points. The point is the poetry.”
Thanks go to our marvellous Year 8 students: Elizabeth Gayler, James Everett, Harriet Roebuck, Hannah George, Zoe Akkermans, Mischa Pretorius, Tilly Bennett, Josie Rathbone, Morgan Farrow and Fenneh Bridge; Mrs Thompson for organising the trip; Mrs Meredith and Mrs Johnson for supporting the students through their creative process and Mrs Durden for driving the minibus. Thanks also to the Schools Library Service for organising the event.
We would like to share some wise words from our finalists’ poem which explored feelings of being unable to change a situation:
“So write yourself a happy ending
and don’t give back the pen.”
After such a display of creativity, we will be re-starting the Creative Writing Club in September, so if you are interested in creative writing (of poetry, prose or plays) then look out for the new venue and time at the start of the new academic year.
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