Poetry in Motion at Farlington

Lower and Middle School Poetry Recital Final

Today 16 of our students from Reception to Year 4, and 17 students from Years 5 to 8 performed in our annual Lower and Middle School Poetry Recital finals. Poems were performed with real panache by our talented students who selected works from famous poets such as Michael Rosen, Julia Donaldson, Peter Dixon, Lewis Carroll and Spike Milligan, with some of the students choosing to recite poems which they had written themselves.

Our panel of judges, Mr Thomas (former Head of English), Mrs Booth, Mrs Cooper (Speech and Drama Teachers) and Mrs Adams (Deputy Head) had a difficult time selecting the winners and runners-up - the standard was so high across the board that it was a tough decision for them to make. In the Lower School, the Reception - Year 2 section, the runners-up were Charlie and Alice, and the winner was Bailey for her wonderful rendition of the poem ‘Animal Homes’. In the Year 3 and 4 section, Tristan and Gabriel were worthy runners-up, and the winner was Calli for her very entertaining performance of ‘Last Night I Dreamed of Chickens’. The judges commented on the bravery and maturity shown by all of these young children whilst performing in front of a large audience.  

Later in the morning we were treated to some further incredible performances from our older students, from Years 5 to 8, for the Middle School final.  We had poems covering all topics, from footballer Lionel Messi to tea bags, then from homework to a rogue Orangutan in someone’s bedroom! This gave the judging panel another dilemma, however in the Year 5-6 category they gave a special mention to Thomas from Year 5, awarded the runner-up prize to Ted A from Year 6 and the winner was Jessica, also from Year 6, who gave a sparkling performance of “I Need to Do My Homework’ by Kenn Nesbitt.

Moving on to the final category, our Year 7 and 8 students performed their poems with flair, the judges were looking out for clarity, articulation, accuracy and overall performance and all of our students met these criteria, with passionate deliveries all-round. Joint runners-up were Jamie from Year 8, with a fantastic performance of their own poem, ‘Stressed’, and Iszy, also from Year 8, with a lovely rendition of ‘Question Time’ by Julia Donaldson. The final winner to be announced was Flora from Year 8, who gave an incredible performance of ‘Jabberwocky’, the nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll, which is notoriously difficult to recite. 

This annual event is open to all of our Lower and Middle School students, from Reception to Year 8, and provides a great opportunity for them to showcase their talents for performing. Well done to all of our students who performed today, the judges wished you could have all been winners, what a talented bunch!