Poetry for a Change

Posted on 19 June 2018

Each year National Poetry Day sees an explosion of poetry in schools across the country, and this year’s celebrations are set to be bigger than ever. Our theme is Change, and there are all sorts of ways to get involved, whether that’s by organising events, displays or competitions, or simply by sharing favourite poems on the day. You’ll find lots of poems to download from the National Poetry Day website and look out too for our brand new anthology, Poetry for a Change (Otter-Barry Books) which features new poems for children by award-winning poets including Joseph Coelho, Rachel Rooney, Brian Moses and Michaela Morgan. Alongside their new poems, each poet has also chosen a favourite poem to share, lines that have inspired them.

Evidence gathered by our partners the National Literacy Trust and CLPE shows that concentration on poetry benefits writing in all other areas of the curriculum, while poetry is also the perfect route into reading for many children. As National Poetry Day ambassador Joseph Coelho says: “Poetry literally breaks reading and writing into bite-sized chunks. It is a fun, non-threatening way for children to become more literate. In poetry sessions I’ve seen elective mutes stand up at the front of their class and read, been told by countless teachers that ‘that student never normally puts pen to paper’ watched children cry and laugh and think together.’

With a range of resources and lesson plans available from Scholastic as well as on the National Poetry Day website now is the time to start planning how you will join in the celebrations on National Poetry Day. Be sure to let us know what you are doing by adding details to our events map https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/join-in/ (it will also let you know what else is happening in your area) and on social media with the hashtag #NationalPoetryDay.

We hope your celebrations leave everyone happy, enthused and fizzing with new ideas, sounds and images: after all, that’s poetry, for a change.

Andrea Reece, manager National Poetry Day

If you’re celebrating National Poetry Day with your class, why not turn them into published poets? We Are Writers lets any child with any kind of writing become a published author in their schools very own book: whether that’s a collection of stories or a poetry anthology! Start yours here.

Take a look at our National Poetry Day writing resources.