“I remember the sound of my voice echoing across the desert”
This National Poetry Day, Thursday 6th October 2016, St Augustine’s Priory is being encouraged to contribute to the activities set out by our English Department, using our school theme for this academic year ‘Memory’ to inspire us. Stairwell walls have been papered with poems, and Mrs Eaton and Mr Elder have set up a scroll in the cloisters to which staff and girls can add lines of poetry, as well as visual stimulus for a poetry competition. The winner of the poetry competition will be announced after half term.
National Poetry Day is an initiative of the Forward Arts Foundation, a charity that celebrates excellence in poetry and widens its audience. The day teams up leading poetry, literacy and literary organisations around a shared purpose: promoting the enjoyment, discovery and sharing of poetry. During assembly on Monday 3rd October we were treated to poetry recitals by girls ranging from Form III through to Upper VI. Works included those of Edward Lear, Lorraine Mariner and our very own Neil Elder, English Teacher. It was especially captivating to hear two of our girls, Leah and Molly, delivering poems beautifully in French and Spanish. Assembly was concluded with a prayer:
“Dear Lord
Thank you for giving us the beauty of language and the creativity to use it. Help us to understand the power of this gift of language and to use it for the common good.
Amen”
Mrs Assemat getting involved en Français!
At lunchtime today, pupils and staff could be seen adding impromptu lines to the memory poem scroll – one girl even wrote in Arabic – and Mrs Cotton, Deputy Head, recited a German poem ‘Heidenröslein – Little Rose on the Heath’ by Goethe during little break. We are always trying to encourage versatility at St Augustine’s Priory, strive to provide our girls with an environment in which they have the freedom to stretch and learn beyond the classroom, and the opportunities to showcase their creativity. This National Poetry Day has really been a testament to such efforts as well as an example of our exceptional girls and their readiness to immerse themselves in whatever the day brings them.
