Friday 2 March 2012 Pupils from primary schools across Leeds have been working with teachers from the Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) and well-known local poets on a new creative writing project that brings the written and spoken word to life. The brainchild of Jenny Webb, an English teacher from GSAL, and Adam Lowe, writer and publisher from Leeds, the project is encouraging Year 5 pupils from five primary schools in Leeds to ‘Speak Up’ and express themselves through poetry. Over the last month, pupils from participating schools have attended workshops with visiting poets, writing poetry with an Olympic theme which they will perform at a poetry ‘slam’ at GSAL, competing to be crowned ‘Speak Up’ junior champions. Jenny Webb said, “The idea for this project came from the Leeds Young Authors poetry slam last year. Our teaching staff and pupils were so inspired that we created the ‘Speak Up’ project, which involves our Senior School, Junior School and five Leeds-based primary schools learning about the creative writing process before competing in an American-style poetry slam. “The pupils have so much to learn from each other. Poetry is all about expression of ideas and it is such a treat to see pupils from all walks of life sharing their experiences through the ‘Speak Up’ project.” Poet Simon Murray delivered a workshop for Year 5 children at Pool CE School. Their teacher Sally Fox said, “The year 5 children threw themselves into the workshop with great enthusiasm, Simon showed them how to draw on their own experiences to create poetry unique to themselves. They worked well together in groups, using words creatively to express themselves based on what is familiar to them.” Jenny says, “The workshops have produced some truly stunning pieces of poetry from the pupils. Year 5 pupils are extremely receptive to group work such as this and have fewer inhibitions so can express themselves more freely. We are all very much looking forward to the poetry slam and seeing what creative performances each team gives.” Lead poet, Adam Lowe, added, “Speak Up is different to the programmes going on elsewhere in the country, because it actively fosters collaboration and skills-sharing between schools. Teachers and pupils can experience language in new ways that make the written and spoken word exciting, while empowering the next generation from Leeds to speak up and speak out.” Pictured are Jenny Webb and Simon Murray with Year 5 children from Pool CE Primary School: l-r Robert Grange, Samuel Parsons, Elliott Reddish-Good, Harry Norris, Imogen Webster, Lucy Dobson, Megan Hoban. General Primary Senior School News
