It was a Wednesday
morning in Ireland Wood Primary School, and as it turned out, a very special
morning. I was sitting in the school
hall and behind me [in front a display of their fabulous work] sat sixty year 6
pupils. We had an audience of two Year 5
classes and approximately fifty parents and grandparents.
Some of us
were a little nervous.
Class
teachers, Mrs. Amos and Mrs. Stringer introduced the morning, talking about the
learning objectives achieved by and the inclusivity of the project. Mrs. Amos observed how when the project first
started in the school seven years before we had only half a dozen parents in
the audience, and how interest had grown every year.
We were there
to share our writing about the Great War and to explain our writing
journey. Every pupil read some of their
work, some their complete poem. Their
empathetic writings of what it meant to be a soldier at the front, or one of
those left behind waiting for news, provided a moving commentary to World War
One. Poems like ‘Dear Valerie’ and
‘White Feather’ will stay with me for a long time.
I explained
what we did in my first two mornings with Year 6, an ideas session in the first
week, with an editing and redrafting workshop in the second week. I took away my ideas from the first session
and wrote a first draft of a poem which I was then able to share with the
pupils, explaining what I had done, and how they might edit and redraft their own
poems.
In between
my explanations we heard individual recorded clips of children reading
favourite lines from their poems, interspersed with live readings of complete poems. And then all of Year 6 stood and read from
memory the poem. ‘In Flanders Fields’.
We finished
with everyone singing, ‘It’s a long Way To Tipperary’. I looked into the audience and was moved to see
parents and grandparents joining in.
The young
people had a chance to talk about what they had learned from working on the
poetry project and amongst others observed that ‘a poem doesn’t need to rhyme’,
‘how to be more confident about writing a poem’ and ‘how to work on and polish
their work’,
Mr.
Blackburn, the head teacher, spoke a few words of thanks to the audience, and said
how the writing project had become very much part of what the school did.
I continued
to sit in my chair as parents came forward to read from the display of
children’s work. Many of them said how
their children had enjoyed the project and how much they had been inspired and
learned from it.
It was as
ever a brilliantly interactive experience, both working with staff and pupils
at Ireland Wood and then sharing our writing with parents.
James Nash,
18th November 2019
PS
I received an email last week from our vice chair, Di Wood Robinson and this is what she wrote:
The 'Lest we Forget' assembly by year 6 was just amazing. The poems were stunning and very moving. Loved the music too. I read many of the displayed poems and thought they were such a high standard. I wish we could somehow get them printed in book form, they are so good.
James is really exceptional. The children totally relate to him. A certain grandchild talked non stop on the way home about James’s Blackbird poem and quoted from it. This from a child far more into Maths and cricket. James is so inspiring. He had high praise for all the staff involved and holds the school in very high esteem. Funding for next year might be in doubt. It would be criminal not to continue with his input.
She has also asked to find out how much you cost (!!) because if next year is in doubt, she thinks school should fund you.....
Here is an email from a grandparent who attended the assembly:
Dear Mr Blackburn
I would like to thank you and your staff for organising such a wonderful assembly on Wednesday focussing on the poems the children had written about World War 1. Ireland Wood is such an inclusive school and it was delightful to see every child involved. The display of poems was outstanding and I felt emotional listening to the readings. Thank you for including families in what was for me a very memorable event.
With best wishes
Tricia McKinney
As for Emma and me, we were once again delighted by the poetry the children created. It's always so fascinating to see the process they go through and having this opportunity, thanks to the Headingley Litfest, certainly impacts the children's experience and standard of writing.
Adrienne x
Class teacher Adrienne Amos adds:
I received an email last week from our vice chair, Di Wood Robinson and this is what she wrote:
The 'Lest we Forget' assembly by year 6 was just amazing. The poems were stunning and very moving. Loved the music too. I read many of the displayed poems and thought they were such a high standard. I wish we could somehow get them printed in book form, they are so good.
James is really exceptional. The children totally relate to him. A certain grandchild talked non stop on the way home about James’s Blackbird poem and quoted from it. This from a child far more into Maths and cricket. James is so inspiring. He had high praise for all the staff involved and holds the school in very high esteem. Funding for next year might be in doubt. It would be criminal not to continue with his input.
She has also asked to find out how much you cost (!!) because if next year is in doubt, she thinks school should fund you.....
Here is an email from a grandparent who attended the assembly:
Dear Mr Blackburn
I would like to thank you and your staff for organising such a wonderful assembly on Wednesday focussing on the poems the children had written about World War 1. Ireland Wood is such an inclusive school and it was delightful to see every child involved. The display of poems was outstanding and I felt emotional listening to the readings. Thank you for including families in what was for me a very memorable event.
With best wishes
Tricia McKinney
As for Emma and me, we were once again delighted by the poetry the children created. It's always so fascinating to see the process they go through and having this opportunity, thanks to the Headingley Litfest, certainly impacts the children's experience and standard of writing.
Adrienne x
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Our well-established poetry in primary schools programme - spread out over a few months - has started, with James Nash already at Ireland Wood and Malika Booker arriving at Brudenell Primary for a first session tomorrow. 
Our well-established poetry in primary schools programme - spread out over a few months - has started, with James Nash already at Ireland Wood and Malika Booker arriving at Brudenell Primary for a first session tomorrow. 