3rd October is National Poetry Day – but poetry shouldn’t ever just be restricted to one day, or even one week. Most people remember some poetry from their schooldays – many with affection, some with barely hidden distaste – but poetry is a vital part of life and learning. The recent research from the National literacy Trust * had some fascinating findings – it makes children happy! Nearly half of the children surveyed engage with poetry in their spare time with most of them saying it makes them feel creative, grants them freedom to choose topics they want and is great for self-expression. Is this what you expected? But, as is also shown in other reading research older children engage less: children between 11 and 14 are half as likely to engage with poetry than those aged 8 to 11. Also noted - it is worth pointing out that the nation’s poetry-writers are, above all, young: those covered in this survey are seven times more likely to write poetry than adults. To that end we need to engage more young people in poetry – reading, writing and enjoying.
There are some fantastic resources around to help with this. Here are just a few you could find useful… For mainly Primary ages there is the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education’s Poetryline which includes Teaching Resources, videos of poets reading poems, ideas, themes and a poem bank, as well as details of the CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award).
For a mix of children’s and adult poetry there’s the amazing Poetry Archive – which is a not-for-profit organisation that produces, acquires and preserves recordings of poets from around the English-speaking world and makes substantial excerpts from them freely available online. The Children’s Poetry Archive is dedicated to poetry written for children and presented in a website which is easy and fun to use. Funded by Arts Council, England, as well as a number of charitable trusts and foundations, philanthropic individuals and generous supporters. The historic recordings are amazing, plus the choice across the whole website means there is something for everyone.
The National Poetry Library provides a list of competitions for children and young people to enter – there are more than you might imagine. Plus there is Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award run by the Poetry Society. They also provide materials for use in education including Slambassadors and the Poets in School Scheme.
The National Poetry Day theme for 2019 is Truth – and the site has many resources you can access to use in the classroom. This is supported by the Forward Poetry Prize part of the Forward Arts Foundation’s role in promoting public knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of poetry in the UK and Ireland. They are a charity committed to widening poetry’s audience, honouring achievement and supporting talent.
You may also be interested in Poetry by Heart - The 2019-2020 competition will launch on National Poetry Day. The school round of the competition will start after October half term and run until February half term. The site has many poems to use even if you have no intention of entering the competitions. This is supported by a partnership comprising The English Association, The Poetry Society, The Poetry Archive and Homerton College.
Remember what stirred you? My personal favourites vary from John Betjeman to Edward Thomas, to A.F. Harrold, via Wordsworth and Roger McGough with many others along the way… Enjoy your poetry throughout the year.
*National Literacy Trust Research Report: A thing that makes me happy: Children, young people and poetry in 2018 by Christina Clark and Fay Lant October 2018. Accessed 280919 - https://literacytrust.org.uk/news/weve-launched-new-research-to-celebrate-national-poetry-day/
