Year 11 GCSE Poetry Live

Last week, pupils from Year 10 and Year 11 got the chance to spend a day at the Theatre Royal, attending a GCSE Poetry Live conference. During the course of the day, pupils were given a key talk from a Chief Examiner, who showed pupils how to approach their GCSE Literature exam. In this talk, pupils looked at an unseen poem and then were given advice on how to compare this to another unseen poem. Ensuring the pupils were left with really useful tips in preparation for their exam.

As well as this, pupils heard from Carol Ann Duffy, one of the most read, studied and loved poets. She was an inspiring Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2019. Carol Ann Duffy delivered a powerful reading of 'War Photographer', a poem which pupils have studied for their GCSE Poetry unit. The event also included the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage. This was a great opportunity to hear Simon read his work from the anthology. 

There were also unmissable readings from award-winning poets Imtiaz Dharker and Daljit Nagra. The event finished with a reading from John Agard, who delivered one of the most exciting performances in contemporary poetry, not only in the way he delivered his poem, but also in how he spoke about them, combining historical awareness, cultural insight and extraordinary humour. Throughout the day, pupils were encouraged to engage with the creative choices each poet made when creating their works and were given an opportunity to ask questions and encouraged to think about writing some poetry of their own. 

GCSE Poetry Live also holds an annual Simon Powell Poetry Prize. Any pupils wishing to take part in the competition should speak with Mrs Khalil, who will give them further information. Likewise, all details can be found on the GCSE Poetry Live website.