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Poetry Week

"The best fun I ever had at school"

"That Poetry Slam was the best fun I ever had at school", one six year-old said. Her friend, nodding in agreement, then asked, "Can we do it again?" The girls were not alone. The very many positive replies and feedback Butcombe received in the aftermath of its first-ever Poetry Slam, the culmination of October’s Poetry Week, has been exceptional.

For one week the poets Claire Williamson and Glenn Carmichael joined the children and staff at Butcombe for a poetry-writing workshop. Children throughout the school, from Nursery to Year 3, met each day to listen, write and perform poems. Together Claire and Glenn helped children aged 4 to 8 years-old prepare a piece of original poetry which they wrote, devised and then performed in front of a live performance.

Poetry Week

Monday
Poetry Week began with a whole school assembly that Claire led. In it Claire introduced the children to performance poems like 'The Duck-billed Platypus'. Afterwards children met as a year group in Butcombe's Hall and played poetry and word games. They listened to different styles of poetry, explored the effects that various rhythms can make and combined poetry with actions.

Tuesday
Glenn held a writing workshop on Tuesday. Throughout the day he met with different year groups as the children, split into small groups, brainstormed ideas on selected themes linked to classroom topics. Reception wrote about The Jungle, Year 1 on Houses and Homes; Year 2 chose Fire! as their theme and Year 3 selected Rocks and Stones. Tuesday's sessions were electric as staff and children rushed to write down the ideas, words and phrases thrown at them. In Reception and Year 1 children worked towards compiling one poem they could all share. In Year 2 and 3 children instead worked as part of a small group, each with their own scribe. Our goal was to compose at least twelve lines of poetry. Somehow, in just 45 minutes, many managed much more.

See the gallery

Wednesday
On Wednesday Claire returned and led the children through an editing session. Together Claire, teachers and children picked through their poems, pulling out the ideas or words that fit snugly into a line or rhythm, twisting and turning words about. If Tuesday's session was feverish with verses bandied about, this session was calm and reflective. Children sat back. They listened and judged. They picked out lines and rhythms that would be easy to perform and discarded those words or verses that jarred.

Thursday
Thursday's session began with an assembly on poetry by Clifton’s Headmaster, Mark Moore. Mr Moore read The Pied Piper to the children, a poem familiar to many. Afterwards the children met with Claire and began rehearsing in earnest. Lines were practised, costumes were arranged, actions were sampled. In Reception and Year 1 the children worked on a routine they could act out together and as a class. In Year 2 and 3 children met in their groups and stitched a performance together, rehearsing alone, with teachers and then in front of others.

Friday
On Friday the Poetry Slam arrived! The morning was spent refining performances and speaking aloud clearly and collectively. Claire and Glenn were both on hand to hear and help children put the finishing touches on their last rehearsals. The lunch bell sounded early as children and teachers returned to their classrooms to fetch their costumes and steady themselves for their big performance.

By the time the children arrived in the Pre Hall about 150 parents were in the audience and gallery. Mr Giebus opened proceedings by introducing Claire and Glenn to Butcombe’s parents. Together they explained the origins of Poetry Slams and led the children in a rendition of 'We Love Presents!' Also on hand was the Pre's Annie Beavis who had the unenviable task of judging the competition and selecting the winners within each year group.

Reception, in jungle costume, took the stage first and performed their piece, 'Jungle Rumble'. Year 1, in their pyjamas and robes, followed with 'Home Sweet Home'. The ending to the poem they wrote with the lines “Don’t forget to turn off the light. "Click" was one of the afternoon's highlights. Mrs Beavis asked both year groups to take a bow and then awarded Best Performance to Reception and Best Poem to Year 1.

Year 2 followed. Stepping onto the stage in the Pre Hall, they performed in small groups. Six groups performed their Fire! poems in their red, yellow and orange clothes, a striking sight. Year 3, in beatnik black, ended the Slam with a series of versatile and outstanding performances of their Rock and Stones poems. The confidence of these six, seven and eight year-olds, the sheer range of their poems and their delight in each others' performances were most impressive. Mrs Beavis commented on each group in turn and, after much deliberation, awarded goal medals to the winning groups.

The afternoon ended with a grateful salute to Claire Williamson and Glenn Carmichael, the children, staff and many others who made Butcombe's Poetry Slam possible. Special thanks must also go to the Headmaster of the Pre, John Milne, and Liz Pafford for allowing Butcombe to stage the Poetry Slam in their Hall. It was an event that will live long in the memory of those who attended it.

13 November 2011

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