For National Poetry Day on October 5th our English Reps Ariella, Flo, Tash and Nat gave an inspiring assembly, showing us the many forms that poetry can take.

Ariella explored the history of poetry through the ages, the challenges around actually defining poetry and some controversial examples of poetry that was banned (Charles’ Baudelaire’s ‘Les Fleurs du Mal’ and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). Flo spoke about a hugely inspiring Year 10 poetry workshop with poet Sophie Thakur which opened her eyes to the powerful emotions that poetry can evoke. She also spoke about how people can find refuge in poetry, recommending ‘The Poetry Pharmacy: Tried-and-True Prescriptions for the Heart, Mind and Soul’ by William Sieghart.

Tash continued the theme with poetry as being therapeutic, exploring the possibility that poetry could be a form of medical therapy, citing examples from as early as 400BC when patients were literally asked to drink their words (!). She also discussed the powerful impact of poets during wartime such as Wilfrid Owen and Siegfried Sassoon.  Our Reps encouraged us all to take a moment out of our hectic lives to read a poem aloud or maybe write some poetry of our own to relieve stress.

Finally, Nat showed us how poetry is all around us every day, although we may not realise it, citing examples from the Arctic Monkeys, Taylor Swift, McDonalds adverts, Lana Del Rey and The Hunger Games – all of which feature references to poetry.

Our English Reps also celebrated the fantastic original poems written by Years 7-9 on the theme of ‘Refuge,’ announcing the year group winners:

Year 7 – 1. Sophia K 2. Isabella G 3. Priya W

Year 8 – Daisy G 2. Kimia T 3. Ella C

Year 9 – Darcey B 2. Clem R 3. Shereen A

All the poems were displayed in the atrium for all to enjoy. The overall winner was Esha in Year 9 and you can read Esha’s brilliant poem here: You Don’t Know What Refuge Is- National Poetry Day 2023 poem.

The previous day we had enjoyed a GCSE poetry conference with Year 10 students from Elthorne and Ealing Fields High Schools – read all about the conference here.

Looking ahead, the Reps announced that our Creative Writing Magazine, ‘Doodles,’ is now open for submissions. The Poetry By Heart competition is also coming up followed by the opportunity to enter the GDST Laurie Magnus Prize – won by our very own Yara last year.