As part of the school's Shakespeare Day celebrations, we were delighted to welcome five-time Foyle Young Poet Award winner Helen Mort to the school to run a couple of poetry workshops. Year 6 were joined by a number of pupils from neighbouring Bentley Primary School for a workshop which explored the ways that poetry, in contrast to Auden's view, can change the world. The children explored techniques for writing poetry of their own, such as thinking from the perspective of other senses or exploring the impossible. The workshop concluded with Helen reading some of her own poems, and answering pupils' questions on her life and work as a poet. The Year 5 workshop followed a similar format, although with this group Helen also had chance to hear some of the pupils perform their ESB poems. We've purchased a copy of Helen's collection of poems, The Shape of Every Box, for the prep school library.

Here's one of the Y6 poems inspired by Helen's workshop:

Invisibility

The sensation of being there ut not being seen,
you have to keep yourself a secret. Not being known.
Being away from everyone, completely alone.
When day breaks and night falls being there with no one aware

The taste is air, like nothing's left
The coating of invisibility is nothing
The air is cold and you taste the wind
But still nothing, as much as you try, nothing.

You can hear the echo of people's voices, even if you don't want to.
You feel the pain, the joy.
You hear the ringing of the power.
And the buzz of your excitement.

Invisibility is fresh and void.
You can feel it flooding over you like water.
Being invisible isn't as great as you think.
You become a missing link.

Natasha, 6S

(More photos...)