House Poetry Returns 

Eld Hall resounded to the sound of pentameters, sonnets and odes this week, as House Poetry made a welcome return. There was a splendid turnout from pupils keen to recite poems they had learned by heart. Impressively, a large number of the poems had been written by the pupils themselves.  The effort put in by pupils from Years Seven and Eight was particularly impressive and members of the Sixth Form also gave some excellent performances.

The event was finally won by Ottley, who had notable successes across several age groups, but the competition as a whole was keenly contested. There was very little to choose between all four of the Houses, and each managed to do well in particular categories. The range of poems across the event was varied and enjoyable: there were poems about the environment, together with powerful and thoughtful poems about identity; there was some Shakespeare and some Oscar Wilde; there was a wonderful menagerie of creatures (crocodiles, snow leopards, several dogs). There was even a sonnet on the topic of VAR, written by Jose Round, a stalwart of House Poetry, whose contributions every year are always a real highlight. Her performances, together with Charlie Raven’s speech from Hamlet, set a superb example for younger pupils, many of whom will, no doubt, go on to emulate Jose and Charlie’s theatrical achievements. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to identify the inspiration behind the poem ‘The Silliest Teacher in School’!

It was wonderful to see so many entries from the Lower School and several pupils read from poems they had written in Year Seven as part of their Nature Writing project. The talent on display was very impressive indeed and it is very pleasing to see how engaged our pupils are by poetry and the power of language.

Thank you and congratulations to all of the pupils who recited poetry. Thanks also to all the teachers (especially the English Department) who helped prepare the pupils and who were there to judge and support them.