Beowulf visits Quarry Mount
Sally Andrews writes:
A cold coming we
had of it … OK, wrong literary reference (The Magi by T S Elliot) but on a
bone-chilling November morning we had a lovely warm welcome at Quarry Mount
from Ms Aspin and her year 5 class. They
had been studying Beowulf, another epic poem, but this one at least 1000 years
old. The story told makes particular use
of alliterative language and the youngsters took to the form with skill and
imagination, retelling the story in their own creative writing. A new twist on a tale from another
millennium.
 |
| Poet-hero James Nash |
Working once
again with James Nash, local published poet - who has been reading his work to
audiences for two decades - they even gave him some advice about the
performances of their original writing.
Reading out to an assembly of peers, parents, other school personnel and
adult visitors, they convinced themselves the audience were just pineapples –
and there was little evidence of nerves.
Brio and confidence with performing, delight and pride shown in smiles
and body language speaking volumes.
Marvellous to see in nine-year-olds!
Who amongst us wouldn't be nervous to perform in front of peers
and parents?
This
'pineapple' was delighted by some
wonderfully original work: battling Beowulf, gruesome Grendel, scared soldiers
telling tales by the flickering flames of the fire – we got alliteration all
right. Along with caves, magical swords, gushing blood , sharp yellow teeth …
you got the picture very vividly from their work.
Some of the
memorable lines of poetry from the children were:
Soldier slowly waking
Who knows what will happen every second we think
Mysterious man creeping at the door
His yellow broken teeth, his arms as big as trees
Sound like a bag being burst open
The mysterious door opened
His mother came for revenge, I snatched her head
off.
One parent said
of his son beforehand, “ He is really excited about it, despite being really
nervous – it is an opportunity for him to express himself.” Another mum confided that her daughter spoke
Arabic but that this opportunity had developed her writing in English and she
was now much more confident with her writing.
Ms Price, the
classroom support assistant spoke of the change in one young man who had really
taken flight with his writing, learning how drafting, editing and redrafting
were all necessary steps to the production of a final piece fit for
performance.
Year 5's class
teacher Ms Aspin said that the class had gained so much confidence in reading
out loud and headteacher Ms Hendley added they had so enjoyed the breadth of
opportunity that experiencing poetry with a professional poet had given them.
Curriculum
leader Mrs Smith was so grateful for the opportunity to have a poet inspire
creative literacy in children who didn't always have English as a first
language, and recounted that one young man said the poetry workshops were “The
best club I have ever been to.”
Comments from
the youngsters when asked what was best about the project included:
Learning how to
do poetry
Seeing poetry books
Learning new things
It was fun!
They will
remember how proud they were of their work and how making your feelings obvious
might inspire others to write honestly and with emotion.
Last words to
the parents:
I loved it, it
was wonderful
I thought this
event was a great idea as it helps the children build confidence to read out in
front of people
I thought all
the children did really well; they were confident and very brave; I love the
way parents can get involved
Thank you again
to Leeds council's Inner North West Area Management Committee who funded
the work once again. In difficult times
it is good to see that creative arts are still supported.
