Date Posted: 28/03/2024Current News
Category / School News Posted on: 11/10/2022
Astonishing pupil performances in Kingshott's annual Poetry Competition
Kingshott pupils have enjoyed taking part in the School’s annual Poetry Competition – which culminated in the competition final last week.
The competition is designed to encourage pupils to develop and hone their public speaking skills. They are challenged to select a poem and to deliver it in front of an audience. All pupils in Years 3 to 8 take part in the competition, with the initial rounds being held in their forms and classrooms. The winners of this first round then take part in the final, in front of the whole Prep School.
Kingshott’s specialist Drama teacher, Mrs Adams, along with Mr Adams, were astonished by the children’s performances, saying; “the children had obviously spent an enormous amount of time thinking about their poems and performing them with notable use of diction, pause and flair! All the performers who reached the final were successful in being selected to represent their year group. We wished we could give them all a prize, as they were all certainly worthy of one.”
Congratulations goes to the overall winner - Max Hill (Year 8) whose rendition of 'Blackberry Picking' by Seamus Heaney secured him first place in an incredibly strong field of competitors. Arthur Crossley (Year 7) was a close second, with his rendition of 'Good Morning Dear Students' by Kenn Nesbitt, and won the title ‘overall runner up’.
Year group runners up and winners were:
Year three: Runner up: Isobel Manners. Winner: George Rose
Year four: Runner up: Joshua Hall and Amber Males. Winner: James Hill
Year five: Runner up: Toby Fielding. Winner: Harriet Newstead
Year six: Runner up: Hugh Davis. Winner: Mabel Cornell
Year seven: Runner up: Jonjo Laing and Felicity McIntosh. Winner: Oscar Fielding
Year eight: Runner up: Toby Cornell and Camilo Hunter. Winner: Oliver Junor
The poems chosen for the competition were diverse - showcasing how pupils' love of literature is encouraged at Kingshott. From a limerick, to William Shakespeare’s 'The Seven Ages of Man', there were different styles of poetry enjoyed by the participants and the audience alike.
The competition not only enables children to discover and enjoy poetry, its purpose is also to encourage Kingshott pupils to develop their public speaking skills. "These are important skills for young children to build up and hone over time," says Kingshott's Headmaster David Weston. "We encourage and nurture our pupils' confidence, through positive feedback. I myself received some feedback on my poetry reading of 'When I'm an old woman' from pupils. They gave me 4 out of 5 for my overall performance, but encouraged me to work harder as I hadn't memorised it! I'm proud to be part of a community where children see feedback as an affirmative and fun two-way process - as this will allow their confidence to grow exponentially."
