Poetry competition
The Poetry Competition is an annual event, hosted by Aspire2 and open to all children from ages 3-18. Children and young people have the opportunity to take part in two categories: Writing their own poem and performing a poem written by somebody else.
The aim of this project is to give children the opportunity to develop creativity and confidence. It also offers them a unique chance to perform a poem in a university lecture theatre in front of an audience to help develop vital skills for their futures.
Poem performances can be presented as solo acts or in groups (and sometimes with props involved!). Schools hold their own competitions with the winners of each school being presented the opportunity to take part in the Grand Final at the University of Reading!
Aspire2 Annual Poetry Competition 2025
We held the 2025 Poetry Competition final on Monday 30th June – one of the hottest days of the year. We had 274 children enter from 8 schools across the WEC, including JMA and Reading Girls. We had so many children attend on the day that we had to get a bigger lecture theatre at The University of Reading. We had some amazing written entries and some absolutely fantastic performance pieces performed on the day. Our panel of 3 judges consisting of A.F Harold, Miranda White (Brighter Future for Children) and our very own Trustee Molli Cleaver had such a hard job choosing the winners.
We had such a lovely day, and the event was well received. This year we wanted to expand the longevity of the competition so alongside the trophies and book tokens given to both the gold and silver winners we also arranged a winner’s workshop where both gold and silver winners were invited to a workshop with A.F Harold on the 17th of September. There was a one-hour workshop for KS1 followed by a separate workshop for KS2-KS5. A.F Harold shared lots of tips with the children which they found fun and useful.
Aspire2 Annual Poetry Competition 2023
Aspire2 was delighted to hold its annual Poetry Competition for all schools in the Whitley area, which was hastily rearranged for 11th July due to our original date being affected by strike action. We were pleased that the majority of primary schools were able to make the new date, and particularly delighted to be joined by New Christ Church who attended for the first time – more on that later! Sadly, Reading Girls’ School was unable to make the revised date, as was Blagdon Nursery School, but with the end of term looming inevitably there were other things for schools to consider.
The day began with our youngest children showcasing their talents. Pupils from The Ridgeway, Geoffrey Field Infants, Whitley Park, New Christ Church, and Christ the King all had something to share and they did so beautifully. The Early Years performance category was won by a group of pupils from The Ridgeway with pupils from Geoffrey Field Infants as runners-up, and the Key Stage 1 performance category was won by the children from New Christ Church is on their very first foray into the competition! The Ridgeway pupils were runners-up in this category.
Key Stage 2 pupils arrived in high spirits for the afternoon session and the competition was fierce! We were joined by children from The Ridgeway, Geoffrey Field Juniors, Whitley Park, and New Christ Church. I think it is fair to say that Whitley Park absolutely roared their way through the competition, finishing as runners-up in the lower Key Stage 2 category and taking both prizes in the upper Key Stage 2 category. Again, New Christ Church was impressive in its first competition and won the lower Key Stage 2 category. Huge well done to them for an impressive first performance, but the children from Whitley Park were outstanding with their performances across the board.
Our event was sponsored by both Reading University, who were our fabulous hosts and logistics support both before and during the event, and by Get Reading Reading who attended on the day and who funded our attending author, the wonderful AF Harrold.
Aspire2 Annual Poetry Competition 2019
On Friday 12th July 2019, 280 children and adults attended our Aspire2 and WEC annual Poetry Competition. This is the fourth year the event has taken place, and every time it gets bigger! The event was hosted by the University in the prestigious Henley Business School.
Early years to key stage 4
The competition is in two parts, submission of poems that the children have written themselves and a performance competition.
Prior to the event on Friday the wining pupils who had been successful in their school competitions, submitted poems for judging by Paul Lyalls, a published poet. The winners received their award at the event and were able to read out their poem to the audience.
All poems submitted were printed by The John Madejski Academy in an anthology of poetry and copies were given to those who had submitted poems for judging.