This week we celebrated National Poetry Day with a special poetry assembly.

Let No One Steal Your Dreams

We’ve been practising our poem by Paul Cookson all week and the children delivered it to parents, families and the rest of the school beautifully. Learning a poem by heart really is quite tricky!

They projected their voices fantastically and recited the poem with great prosody. It has also be a joy to speak to the children about what their dreams for the future are and to see how they have represented them through art.

If

Some children wanted an extra challenge so also performed the poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling. Some of the words were quite challenging to understand but it was a great chance to think about what you can do to help yourself be happy.

Hearing the last line performed in unison was really impactful!

Why are poems important for children?

Recent research from the National Literacty Trust found that when children consume or create poetry in their free time, they experience important benefits that can impact them in and outside of the classroom.

Children and young people who currently engage with poetry said that poetry:

• helps them to relax
• helps them to learn new things
• helps them to work through emotions
• helps them to understand the views of other people
• helps them to feel more confident

Help at home: visit the children’s poetry archive and explore their brilliant website. Which is your favourite poem?