Sheila Chapman
writes:
Imagine being
abe to visit another world. “Go to an
optician's and put on special glasses.”
“Step into a painting.” Just two
of the ideas from members of year 5 at Quarry Mount primary school when
replying to the challenge set them by James Nash, the local writer and poet
commissioned by Headingley LitFest to run a series of workshops on writing and
performing original poetry.
James Nash with headteacher Rebecca Pettman |
The celebration
assembly was a delightful end to the half term and included recognition for
Attendances Winners, Rainbow Points winners and Homework Champions as well as
the finale to the poetry work based on this half term's work on The Lion,
the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis.
Each year group bases homework on a theme from literature, and in this
half term classes considered The
Gruffalo, Jungle Book, Harry Potter, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and
The Lightning Thief as well as the visit to Narnia. Wow. And even better that this visit was in warm
sunshine rather than the more appropriate wintry snow that has greeted our
visits to Quarry Mount in previous years!
So the entire
school heard 26 budding poets from Ms Blackstone's year 5 class read out either
their whole poem or a favourite line. No
fluffs, no hesitation, seemingly no nerves.
Fantastic, considering an audience of 200 included all pupils, all
staff, parents and other visitors. “When you're rising ten years old this is a
tremendous opportunity to develop performance skills at the end of the
workshops that help with self-confidence, co-operation with peers and
cross-curricular writing that brings the curriculum to life.” Helen Smith also added with pride that some
of the pupils with special needs had memorised their lines and performed their
work flawlessly.
Rebecca Pettman, the (relatively) new headteacher,
was most enthusiastic about the value of the work to individual students: “This was a fantastic
opportunity for the children - to work with a poet, with someone from a
creative background who they might not often have the opportunity to
meet. This is especially important for our children who are from a range
of cultures and who live in an area of high deprivation and may not often have
access to such a person.
”More than half of this class speak
English as a second language and it is vital for them to develop confidence in
their abilities to write and read their own words. Performance is an
essential life skill too; we are so grateful to James for the calm and gentle
way he encourages original writing and instils the self-belief that they all
have an inner poet. Thank you.”
The children
should have the last words:
I walked the highest mountain
Red as a ruby
Beautiful singing like harmonising from
birds
I can see sun and seagulls
The waterfall is coming
The dragon is my friend
A secret place where no one will go
A giant castle filled with sweets
The best bit?
“Spending time with a real poet.”
“Getting feedback from others in my
class.”
“Showing me how to make more of my
ideas.”
Contact details for James Nash:
Contact details for James Nash:
www.jamesnash.co.uk
A Bit of an Ice Breaker out now on Amazon kindle.
My new collection from Valley Press.
Some Things Matter:63 sonnets
http://www.valleypressuk.com/books/somethingsmatter