Antarctica at Spring Bank Primary School

 

On Friday 14th February Year 3 included a presentation of their original poems as a much-anticipated and joyful finale to a Certificates assembly celebrating personal achievements. The temperature outside at 9 am was 1 degree Centigrade and my car was warning me of black ice. Definitely scene-setting to get us in the mood, but the very warm welcome by a whole row of parents for the efforts of their youngsters was heartwarming. Deputy headteacher Amy Houldsworth gave James Nash a big build-up and explained how every year that he has worked in the school he has created magic.

A topic new to our commissioned poet, local writer James Nash, he had carefully done his research and held an ideas session with the year 3 children to give them a range of possibilities. They chose to write original work on the theme 'Imagine you are a penguin.' And, of course, had to model how penguins walk! They considered how penguins live, what they love or hate, the realities of daily life with their families. Quite sophisticated ideas when you're seven years old. They might be small but the ambition in their writing was huge. Young writers with some very mature considerations.

As they worked together on crafting and editing their work, their confidence grew along with their thinking and vocabulary. And they were so engaged and enthusiastic about the work that all the parents commented how much they had heard about it at home. “He's never stopped talking about it, and is so looking forward to expressing himself.” For, of course, part of the project is encouraging children to perform their own work in front of an audience. Just the whole school, and staff, and parents. Quite daunting when you're a new reader as well as writer!

“He's buzzing to do it!” “She's following her two sisters who have alredy done this project, and who both told her how much she would enjoy it. She has.” “All week he has been very excited and looking forward to performing.” “She's very shy but going to read out some of her work, I'm so proud of her.” There was more in this vein, and a universal thumbs-up that Mrs Baruah's class had really got under the skin of a penguin.

We heard about protecting the penguin eggs amidst the blue of the ice, or in a blizzard. We thought about the sound of silence, or the raging of the winds. We worried about swimming alone or walking through the snow. We considered the danger of icebergs and predators in the sea.

'I can feel the cold.'

'I'm looking for a hole in the snow to lay my beautiful eggs.'

'I hear silence, or the sea lapping on the ice.'

'The snow is shiny, glittery.'

'I walk and wobble on the ice.'

'I see other penguins with joy and laughter.'

When I asked Mrs Baruah, and several other teaching or teaching assistant staff, “Can you think of a child who has absolutely confounded your expectations this week?” each of them had several examples come immediately to mind. So the project has long-term implications for writing competence as well as self-confidence – and you can't overestimate the value of that.

Once again we are very grateful to the Inner North West Area Management Committee of Leeds City Council for supporting this project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volcanic Poetry at Shire Oak Primary - with James Nash

 

Volcanic poetry from Year 3

It was a Thursday afternoon assembly at Shire Oak Primary School and Year 3 were erupting. With excitement. They had been working with local writer and poet James Nash and were there to share their brilliant poetry about volcanoes with Years 2 and 6 and many of their parents. It was a proud moment for all.

It all began on an afternoon earlier in the week when James introduced himself to the class, finding out what they knew about the topic and outlining what they were going to do. After reading them some of his own poems or couplets to start the lava flowing, he led an ‘ideas’ session. This helped the seven/eight-year-olds to gather their first thoughts and suggestions. He posed them a series of questions which they answered in the first person as if they were a volcano. The next session was all about editing and redrafting and working their first versions into a draft. They thought about a poem’s 'shape' in terms of verses and line length, and how to make an impact with their opening lines.

 

‘I am volcano and I don’t care’

‘I am a lion, red blood drips from my teeth’

And,

‘I just want to kick my legs’.

 

Mr Martin, Year 3 teacher, had this to say about the children’s responses to the activity: ‘It gave them purpose, and an outcome they could reach towards’. Mrs Strange, classroom support for Year 3, was able to add, ‘The writing ignited their imagination. They accessed the poetry very quickly’.

They shared their writing with each other, working on their drafts and paying particular attention to their forthcoming performance. Even the shyest found a confident voice and it was clear that Year 3 were very busy and engaged. And they had fun.

One said, ’It was really good working with a poet who was there to give advice’. And another said,’ I loved gathering my ideas for my writing and then learning how to make that into a poem’.

So here they were in front of a live audience, some reading a few lines from their writing, others sharing the whole poem. One parent remarked that it was striking how confident and audible they were, and another said how enthused they had become about writing poems. Amongst the many hugely positive comments were, ‘I am so impressed by the use of language – of explosive language. And the references to Pompeii too!’ and ‘ Very impressive how learning about a science topic can lead to such creative work, while still meeting curriculum requirements’.

It was left to headteacher, Ms Jane Devane, to sum up the whole experience. ‘As always, it’s a joyous highlight to the year when our Year 3 children work with James and produce such wonderful poems. They learn such a lot from working with a real poet, and having a live audience helps them shape their words with purpose and deliver with confidence’.

Headingley LitFest is very grateful once again for support for this project from the Area Management Committee of Leeds City Council and the local councillors who allocate the grant.
 

 

Return to Narnia at Quarry Mount Primary School

Quarry Mount Primary School, January 2025 - Return to Narnia

It was a morning of celebration at Quarry Mount Primary School this Wednesday when Year Five, who had been working with local poet and published writer James Nash, had the chance to share their work in an assembly with Years 4 and 6, and with their parents. Quite daunting when you're only nine or ten years old.

They had spent the week finding their poetic voices. The starting point of the class reading-book - The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – explores four children as they enter the new world of Narnia. Year 5 imagined their own journey into a new world. Some of their writing had a science-fiction feel to it, others a more humorous approach. Two poems strikingly had football at their heart, and expressed the footballing dreams and ambitions of their writers.

Mrs Yaqub, the class teacher, and Mrs. Gough, the teaching assistant, were a great support in the poetic endeavours of the children, giving them time outside the creative sessions to write neat, final drafts that will appear in a classroom book of their poems.

The assembly itself was the climax of three mornings of work. Parents were very impressed by the range of language used by the young people, with one saying how the sessions with James in school had motivated her son to write at home. One boy had apparently never written anything like it before but would certainly be trying his hand at poetry again. Result!

‘ I jumped into a volcano

Lava was bubbling inside

I would not regret this

It’s the best choice of my life’.

James with teacher Mrs Yaqub

 

Several parents commented that they hoped that James would come into school again and echoed Rebecca Pettman, the headteacher, when she said,

‘Our children had a great time creating poetry with James. It is wonderful to see how enthusiastic they are to create their poems and use such a rich range of vocabulary in their writing’.

Every poem produced was original and expressed something individual from the imagination of each of the young poets.

‘I could feel the wind,

The air tasted nasty, bitter’

And

‘My quest was to defeat the monster’.

The final words should come from Mrs.Yaqub, who said of James,

‘I’d like to thank him for continuing to come and work with our fantastic children. They learnt so much and he opened them up to their creative selves’.

This project has several aims: to work with an established poet who introduces various forms of poetry and how you start writing it; to allow youngsters to craft their own original work; to perform their own poems to a large audience. These are unforgettable experiences that can change young minds, develop self-confidence and sometimes break down internal barriers to success.

 

Headingley LitFest is very grateful once again for support for this project from the Area Management Committee of Leeds City Council and the local councillors who allocate the grant.

 

 

Remembrance - poetry at Ireland Wood Primary

 Remembrance 

Sally Bavage writes:

No, not exactly of Things Past by Marcel Proust, though they have. More WW1, although it haunts us still. The Thing Past this time was a battered old trumpet, owned by our commissioned local writer and poet James Nash, who used it as a starting point for generating original writing and poetry by two year 6 classes at Ireland Wood primary school.

Thursday 28 November was indeed a seasonally cold and frosty morning but the warm welcome afforded to the thirty or so visiting parents/carers by an assembled year 6 was excited and joyful. Less so the subject: the celebrated WW1 poets such as Brooke, Owen or Sassoon knew how to touch a nerve. No less our aspiring writers at Ireland Wood, who read out their powerful and affecting poems confidently to an audience of school staff, parents and four classes of both peers and other pupils. Quite daunting but a triumph over nerves and self-doubt.

Their writing was first discussed, workshopped, drafted, redrafted, polished and prepared for performance. As Mr Crossley (pictured with James Nash), year 6 teacher, said: “The calming soothing voice of James Nash just convinces all the pupils to write with feeling and empathy. He encourages them all to shine with self-confidence and is so good at getting the best out of them. And he spoke for Mrs Bilioni, his colleague year 6 teacher who said “100% we want him back next year!”

It really is a testament by the school to give such commitment to the work and to put so much organisational effort into the assembly – careful choreography, practice with a microphone, even group singing of Pack Up Your Troubles and Long Way to Tipperary. Anyone who's tried that with sixty individuals knows what goes in. And the careully mounted poems were all displayed behind the pupils for some very proud parents to read and in which the writers could take pride. Teaching staff and teaching assistants were unanimously really enthusiastic.

“He's been talking about the work at home, which isn't usual,” said one dad. And a mum volunteered that “her daughter had so enjoyed the work she now 'loved poetry'.” That's no mean feat for one of the less popular aspects of the curriculum. “Wow, she surprised us all,” said teaching assistant Mrs Mirshekar of one young person with special needs. “What a difference between the drafts of her writing as she gained in confidence.” Teaching assistant Mrs Mohammadi confided that “Even when English is not the first language our pupils used imagination, understood similes and were eager instead of struggling to write. They loved it. I've been here fourteen years and seen the results that James Nash has generated before but it's true that the children absolutely love it.”

And the children themselves. Beaming faces all round gave away their feelings. One girl perhaps summed up for all: “I have really, really enjoyed it and even read a book (about the fell-running messengers of WW1) as preparation to set the scene.” Mrs Hutchinson, teaching assistantt, summed up: “Simply amazing.”

Others confided to James:

‘It’s lovely being creative and coming up with your own ideas’

‘I’ve really liked learning about how to write a poem’

‘ I’ve had fun, working with a real poet’

It's impossible to report on sixty poems, so just a very few lines follow:

Why am I here; I should be at home.

My friends are falling one by one.

All you can smell in the trenches is the soldiers' flesh and blood.

Peaceful melodies that break my heart.

How could they play while people are dying?

As they blow it makes me think of a loud and painful scream.

Remember, a trumpet being played

Signalling the end of war.

 

 

The Trashformer - Weetwood Primary School Blog

 Sally Bavage writes:

This term, class 5 at Weetwood primary school have been studying Extreme Earth and considering the range of changes that have, and must, happen if we want a future for our youngsters.  A spring trip to the recycling centre in Leeds was the starting point for some very imaginative and original poetry, coordinated and led by local writer and published poet James Nash.

 

Working closely with their class teacher Joanne Parker, the pupils aged nine or ten collaborated to share vocabulary, shape and edit ideas, then create original writing about their thoughts and feelings on rubbish that would eventually contribute to the powering of 22,000 homes in Leeds. Many parents were able to hear their children as they read out their favourite lines, or the whole thing, in front of the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Al Garthwaite. If that made them nervous, it didn't show!  They were so engaged in performing their work and keen to display how much they had understood about the need for recycling rubbish and utilising its potential to create energy. 

 

Many of the pupils took the part of a specific piece of rubbish and traced their fate.  We felt the menace of the approaching doom, heard the noise of the huge metal grab and the thud of landing waste, we smelt the sulphurous smell of sour milk, the honeysuckle scent of decay, we saw the black hole of doom where rubbish is consigned to the flames, empathised with packets taken from their home, but rejoiced in the power such finality gave to the people of Leeds. 

 

A dreadful journey, launched into a dumper truck

A huge metal octopus ready to snatch!

More and more rejects join me

Left in darkness to await my doom

I see a confetti or rubbish

Dropped into a vast bottomless sinkhole

A chair leg told me our dreadful fate

Swallowed into the burning belly

Stolen from my family, taken from my home

The orange peel shrieks “Farewell world! My time is over”

Me, a Haribo packet and a mattress

I'm just a jacket, I have friends here

Just an old blue jacket in an abyss of waste

I was chucked away, not worthy of being recycled or composted

I am a forgotten teddy and this is my story

Transformed to energy, I have been reborn

 

There were so many insightful lines and such vocabulary! These youngsters have taken their visit to a recycling plant to the next level indeed and made their learning so real. Real Wow! moments

 

What did the children themselves think of the project? James Nash gathered the following remarks the day before the final assembly, in addition to a resounding “Yes!” when asked if they had enjoyed their poetry sessions:

 

‘I’ve got so much more confident in my writing’

‘Thought I’d be shy reading out my poem, but I really enjoyed it’.

‘We had so much help from Mrs Parker and you, it was brilliant to write about our trip to the dump’.

‘Our trip gave us so many ideas’.

‘I learned that even published poets get their work edited and marked by someone else’.

 

And the parents at the performance gave pretty much the same resounding answer -  “Very excited” - when asked if their children had commented at home. They were keenly looking forward to seeing the children perform too, having had poems recited to them, or been told in no uncertain terms they mustn't miss it, or just been enthused by their child's pride in upcoming performance.

 

Staff who work with year 5 include Mr Greenwood, teaching assistant, who was simply delighted by one young boy whom he supported to become more confident with his English.  “He asked me to work on it with him during the lunchtime and performed his own work with real confidence for the first time.  Brilliant!”

 

Deputy headteacher Sara Westlake was just so pleased by the extraordinary way some pupils had performed way above expectations.  “How marvellous it is to get the opportunity to work with a real poet; he has got so much out of our children that will stay with them. They won't forget this!”

 

After the readings, the Lord Mayor praised the youngsters for their extraordinary insights into the recycling plant that also powers the Civic Hall and her office!  She also gave out an individual Leeds city pin badge to each child and commented on the civic 'bling' she was wearing in response to one of the questions posed by the young people. 

 

The Lord Mayor has now attended five of the six poetry assemblies in local primary schools to which she was invited (she was previously committed on the sixth occasion) and has commented on how much the youngsters have got out of the poet-led workshops in both writing skills and performance experience. Headingley LitFest was honoured to have her come so often and show such empathy for the development of these young people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pure Gold - Malika Booker at Brudenell Primary School

 Richard Wilcocks writes:

Malika Booker is well-known to staff at Brudenell Primary School. Unsurprising, because she has been treating children to her poetry sessions there since 2016. In fact headteacher Jill Harland joked recently that both Malika and myself can now be allowed to wear the school uniform. Consequently, Malika knows what works with Year 5 classes, and that includes reading out a couple of her poems (from a collection) about part of her childhood which was spent in Brixton, London, then asking questions. Her own mother was unrushed and meticulous, closely examining every egg when shopping in the local market. So who in this class enjoys going shopping with their mother at the weekend? Hands up. 

Malika Booker, LM Al Garthwaite, Richard Wilcocks

The class split fifty-fifty. She followed with a poem about the cat which had to go when she was born. Questions and answers followed about beloved pets. It was all foundation-laying for what was to come in the following sessions – relationships with loved ones. Then came some small surprises.

Q. Have you ever met Maya Angelou?

A. I saw her on stage when I was in the audience.

Q. Which poets have influenced you?

A. Umm… I like William Blake and Sharon Olds.

Soon, it was all about imagery, symbols and metaphors. Class teacher Tom Nutman had been through this before, so it was not completely new. Be original, avoid clichés. Group work was initiated. What is the taste of anger? What is a sign of love?

One girl wrote: Love is robins singing in a field of lilies (near my grandma)

 

 

The second session began with some reminders of the previous week’s work and the handing out of a poem by Palestinian-American poet Lisa Suhair Majaj – ‘My Father’s Hands’. We’re going to write a portrait poem and we’re going to do it by writing about hands. The hands of a loved one. Soon , the whole class was drawing round their hands. Each finger was to be filled with poetic information. Choose someone you love. Tell me who you love. Hands up. Mothers, fathers, baby brothers and sisters. Uncles. Pets not allowed.

 

Some fascinating responses: He puts his hands under his chin when sad… she wipes a tear from her face with one finger…  she clenches hands in disgust… when she cooks, oil on her hands glistens…

Rehearsing

  

The third and final session was dedicated to the actual performance, the finale. Class teacher Tom Nutman had worked extensively with his pupils when we arrived early for the rehearsal. They sat on benches in the school gym, poems in hands. The main issue to be addressed was confidence, or rather lack of it, but it turned out to be a minor one. Malika and Tom watched as each and every poem was read out. Voices became louder, any remaining timidity vanished.

The Lord Mayor of Leeds, local councillor Al Garthwaite, arrived, wearing her chain of office, producing some audible gasps. Is it real gold? The answer was yes, and it dates from 1836. She joined the audience of parents, who were astonished by the performance, which went exactly s planned

Afterwards, Tom congratulated his class once more and Al Garthwaite, who had been taking notes, praised the ensemble and picked out many memorable lines and phrases from the poems which had helped to make the whole thing amazing. She explained the meaning of the sheep depicted on her chain, saying that it represented the industries once in Leeds which made their money from wool. She then handed out the Lord Mayor’s special pin badges to every child.

Comments

 

I am so impressed. Everybody has made so much progress, and you have got so many stories to tell. Some of you could hardly read last year. Poetry is the best thing and you can all do it!   (Headteacher Jill Harland)

 

It was so nice to see my daughter expressing herself in front of a gathering. She was really great!   Ahmed Ahmed, parent)

 

I think it was a fantastic opportunity for all the pupils to engage in the joys of poetry.   (Vicky Loulié, Teaching Assistant)

 

I appreciate the words which we heard on unconditional love, and the team which did this, especially the class teacher and Malika Booker. It was brilliant to see the kids participating like this.   (Mohammed Ishfaq, parent)

 

I think the staff at this school is helping the kids succeed like superhumans, and the kids are all pure gold.   (Asma Nasim, parent)

 

A lovely show! The performance was wonderful.   (Jingjing Duan, Parent)

 

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