PUBLISHED 14 March 2022
During early March, a small group of Year 7 students, accompanied by Mr Bridges, took their varied and entertaining poetry recitals performed at the ‘Poetry by Heart’ House Competition into the local community, paying a visit to Year 6 at Heyhouses Primary School.
The intention behind the visit, an initiative which AKS English Department launched several years ago, is to bring together Year 7 pupils as leaders of a group of Year 6 pupils; they then work together to produce both written and dramatic outcomes, using verse as a springboard.
This year, AKS pupils helped their charges freeze-frame key moments from both Roald Dahl’s ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and ‘Jabberwocky’ by Lewis Carroll, whilst the Year 5 audience were also treated to perfectly-delivered versions of ‘The Sound Collector’ (where they had to imitate the wide variety of noises mentioned), ‘Comet’, ‘The Garden Year’, ‘Bad Sir Brian’ (where an angry email needed to be generated) and ‘The Tom-Cat’, all featuring in 2022’s ‘Poetry by Heart’ booklet with which the entire Year 7 cohort will be familiar.
Every credit must go to the Year 7 leaders of this morning away from the AKS classroom – their willingness to take the reins and lead was noted on more than one occasion, as was their confidence, enthusiasm and ability to communicate with younger pupils.