By Mrs Graves (Head of English)
Leaves fluttering through the air, conkers rolling underfoot; it must be Autumn. Here at BGS, the changing of the seasons heralds something even more exciting… The arrival of National Poetry Day! The first Thursday in October always brings us the opportunity to celebrate our love of poetry, and this year’s theme of ‘play’ made us more determined than ever to have lots of fun doing it.
Students arrived in school on 2nd October to find a cryptic message from Mrs Johns inviting them to take part in Verse Quest, a scavenger hunt for rhyming clues which led to a secret location. If they solved all the clues and made it there in time, they were rewarded for their puzzle solving efforts with a sweet treat and a house point; who could ask for more?
In lessons, we were keen to get stuck in and write some playful poems. We focused on the limerick form this year. Using a relatively simple structure meant students could think more purposefully about the content of their poems. In Year 7, some classes focused their limericks on the Great Girls we have been reading about, whilst others looked instead at the broader theme of identity which runs through the texts and read the poem Russian Doll by Rachel Rooney as a stimulus for their own creative responses.
Students in GCSE and A Level classes were challenged to see their study texts from a new angle, applying their skills of intellectual playfulness to transform key extracts into found poems. This method of creating poetry, whilst great fun, can also be a really interesting way of noticing patterns in the language of a novel, and often leads students to notice things that they can later analyse. The Sixth Form tutor groups were not to be left out, and this year they were set the challenge by Ms Heimfeld (English Teacher) to write a pop sonnet! We’ve been enjoying reading some of their creative efforts and welcome any more entries before the half term holidays.
Overall, it was another hugely enjoyable day, showcasing how imaginative our community here at BGS can be.
