Term 4 March 2013 Newsletter - St. Aldhelm's Academy

Newsletter
RAISING THE PROFILE OF POETRY
her peers, having demonstrated an understanding of
the language and meaning of their chosen poems. The
winner went forward to take part in the next stage,
which was the County Final.
A few weeks ago some of our young people participated
in a challenge to take part in the ‘Poetry By Heart’
competition, hosted by the Dorset County Council
Library Service in Dorchester. Young people had to
choose two poems from a list, supplied by the
organisers, which they had to be able to recite from
memory.
‘Poetry By Heart’ is an educational initiative of the
Poetry Archive, which is an online collection of
recordings of poets reading their own work, and is
supported by the Department for Education. Over
4,500 schools and colleges registered to take part in 50
towns and cities. Although this competition is a new
initiative in England (this academic year being the first),
it is, in fact, an international event which takes place in
America, Canada and Ireland.
When these poems had been committed to memory,
the competitors had to recite them in class, in front of
their peers, followed by a performance in front of the
whole school. The winner was then nominated, by his/
With the support of young people and staff, the
Academy went through this process and nominated
Christian Howarth as its representative. Annie Freud,
Poet and Master of Ceremonies at the County Final,
described Christian’s performance as “edgy” and his
use of language “evocative”. Christian, along with the
other competitors, received a Certificate of Achievement
and a voucher.
Poetry is a wonderful way
of giving young people
the tools and techniques
to develop their skills,
especially speaking and
listening. In addition,
poetry gives the writer
freedom to express
thoughts and feelings
openly, while at the same
time inspiring the writer to explore and extend their
knowledge, understanding and use of language.
Year 8 Enrichment class
As part of the Year 8
enrichment tasters some of
the girls did hair styling,
doing each others hair.
‘This is the group practising hair styling for their
themed hair competition that was held at the end of
term.