Beowulf,
Blood and Brutality at Quarry Mount by Sally Bavage
“Good afternoon,
everyone” said James Nash, the local
poet commissioned by Headingley LitFest to work at Quarry Mount primary school
with Ms Aspin's year 5 class.
“Good afternoon
Mr Nash” chorused the whole class immediately – a clear sign of just how polite
they are and how seriously they took the occasion.
James had taken
the tale of Beowulf from a very old tome he uses as a stimulus and used it with
these nine-year-olds to get them to listen to poetry, take in the story and
write some lines of their own that reflected what they had absorbed of the
ancient saga. A heck of a lot!
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| Class 5 teacher Rachel Aspin with James Nash |
The young
readers used a music stand as a lectern and the rhythms of their language
played out over the audience listening with rapt attention. Beowulf the hero and Grendel the monster do
various kinds of bloodstained battle, with a wide range of appropriate language
that took the story back to the first millennium rather than echo the X-box vocabulary
more normal today. We had carnage,
revenge, gruesome encounters and old-fashioned victory despite the odds.
Beowulf “ripped his arm off like a piece of paper” rather stays in the
mind. How good to acquire the art of
reading with confidence, animation and
verve in public at this young age – something a good few adults could do with
brushing up!
One young lady
used the rhetorical question form very deftly to pose and then answer questions
about Beowulf's progress. It was
heartening to see how the youngsters had learned to read out clearly and
deliver bravura performances despite earlier nerves.
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| Maryam reads out her Beowulf tale |
As Kay Hendley,
headteacher, said: “The poems were crafted carefully, read out with confidence
and shared with the audience with great enthusiasm. It was an absolute pleasure to be with these
young writers. Children here have fewer
opportunities than some for this kind of experience of literature so this is a
marvellous chance for them.”
Ms Gough, teaching assistant with year 5, added: “Quite a few of the children did not really know what poetry was or how to write a poem before James came. They have worked so hard on their own writing and they have obviously really enjoyed it.”
“A great event
allowing the children an opportunity to experiene poetry as an art form. Working with these children I know how
challenging it was for them to speak in front of an audience” -
Ruth Curtis,
school staff.
Class teacher
Rachel Aspin: “The youngsters were so looking forward to performing their work;
it has definitely changed the behaviour of some of them. One young boy, normally very reluctant, sat
down so diligently to write it was wonderful to see. And the confidence of the whole group has
just soared.”
Best thing
about this project? Working with James and Rachel. Learning how to write a poem. Learning how to
be brave when reading out a poem.
What have you
learned with James? To make poem lines shorter. Poems don't have
to rhyme. Practice makes perfect. Editing and redrafting.
Why is it
good to share your work? So you can get over the fear. And so others might want to make their
poems. So you can maybe inspire your
friend or parents.
What will you
remember about this project? Every single thing!
Final word to
Alisha, when asked to sum up in one sentence what the class had got from the
exposure to reading and writing poetry: “Inspiration and happiness.”
Tales of Beowulf
are to be scanned for the school website then put on display. A lovely legacy for the future readers of
Quarry Mount. Thanks once again to the
Inner North West area management committee for granting us the funding for this
project. Thanks, too, to Rachel Harkess
of Headingley LitFest who helped out with the workshops.
