If you’re into great poetry delivered with passion, then the Drama Studio was the place to be this week! The English Department have been hard at work this term running the Poetry By Heart competition with Year 7 students, who have enjoyed a series of workshops with an expert in poetry and memory. All worked hard to master the tricky art of learning lines and reciting complex poems without the aid of prompts or notes.

Following a round of form group heats, 20 students were selected to perform at the Year 7 finals on Wednesday this week in the Drama Studio. Logan Fellows in 7C impressively navigated his way through the lengthy, KS4-standard war poem Exposure, by Wilfred Owen, and James Agombar in 7T also excelled in his expressive and confident rendition of The Listeners by Walter de la Mare.

The overall winner though was Tate Franz of 7R, who stunned his audience with pitch perfect recitations of Lewis Carroll’s The Jabberwocky and Pike by Ted Hughes. Tate’s clear enunciation and nuanced understanding of the poems really brought them to life, impressing the Year 7 audience as well as competition organiser Mr Margetts and the judges Mrs Roche and Mrs Bennett.

Well done to Tate, the contestants who took part in the final, and all Year 7 pupils for making our first Poetry By Heart competition such a success.

Poetry By Heart is an initiative supported by the Department for Education which aims to inspire students in schools and colleges to learn and to recite poems by heart. You can find out more on the website at www.poetrybyheart.org.uk.