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 delighted 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.

There is a written and a performance element to our competition, and quite a few children have submitted their own poems for judging. The standard of written entries was exceptional and I am very pleased I didn’t have to decide who had won! Winners were:

  • Key Stage 1 Winner – ‘Grow’ by Darcey, Eunice, Ezra, Logan, Luca & Nikola from Christ the
    King
  • Key Stage 1 Runner-up – ‘Sunflower’ by Heba at Geoffrey Field Infants
  • Lower Key Stage 2 Winner – ‘Springtime is …’ by Hafsah at Geoffrey Field Juniors
  • Lower Key Stage 2 Runner up – ‘Sloth’ by Louis at The Ridgeway
  • Upper Key Stage 2 Winner – ‘I’m Sorry’ by Kiera M at Whitley Park
  • Upper Key Stage 2 Runner-up – ‘Racism’ by Jai, Dumi, Liam,and Kane at Whitley Park.

All winning poems are included later in this account, and I am sure you will be blown away by the standard, as we were. 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.

Two points strike me about this event. The first is the atmosphere and the excitement of the children who are competing; they love poetry, they love to write it and they love to perform it. They are supportive of the children in their performance group and of children in other groups and schools – they were fabulous audiences both morning and afternoon. The second point that struck me is the standard of entries – the children just get better every year, and it is an absolute joy and privilege to read their poems and watch their performances. As a former headteacher, I am well aware of the effort that goes into a performance for this event, and I would like to thank all the staff, families, and others who have supported the children so that they were confident to perform. They were most definitely confident! What a fabulous day we had.

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. If you haven’t yet read an AF Harrold book then you are absolutely missing out – he entertained the children on the day with a selection of his poetry and I am very confident that there are now any number of his books in the Whitley schools! The children, and the adults, were enthralled – we were so lucky to have him help to host, to judge both written entries and performances, and to entertain us. Aspire2 is also grateful for our additional judges: Jackie Willcocks, English adviser for Brighter Futures for Children, and Molli Cleaver, Community Engagement Manager at Reading University. All judges, alongside Ben Worsfold from Reading University and Chris Routh from Get Reading Reading were hugely generous with their time, and we are very grateful.

I can’t wait to see what the children can achieve next year and am already looking forward to our next competition!

Jacky Steele | Aspire2 Trustee and Vice-chair