ON March 9 our year nine students were treated to a ‘Slam Poetry’ day run by a poet with the unlikely name of Spoz. He is a very unusual poet  as the year nine students were happy to discover.

He likes to employ different “tools” in his poetry workshops to get the creative juices flowing and it certainly worked in the case of our pupils. They entered Sebright Hall, where the event took place, muttering under their breath about “flippin’ poetry” and by the time they left most were buzzing with excitement.

Using a variety of word games such as rhyming wars and word buddies, Spoz helped the students to realise that poetry actually forms a significant part of their popular culture and, more importantly, can be fun.

The theme of the workshop was chocolate – something dear to everyone’s heart  and the focus was on literacy which Spoz cleverly incorporated in such a way that the students hardly felt they were “learning”  just playing with words.

It didn’t take long for Spoz to get the students up on stage, showing off their poetic ability and taking part in rhyming competitions (I never realised how many words rhyme with “education”!). There was a real creative buzz as the groups took to the microphones and battled it out, egged on by their mates in the (very noisy!) audience.

The group “Margin Mayhem” was eventually declared the winner. This group was made up of Lauren Bromell, Olivia Crannage, Joshua Jolly and the aptly named Eilidh Shakespeare, the idea being that they would go on to take part in the Worcestershire High Schools Poetry Slam.

This is a live event, held annually, at Artrix in Bromsgrove, where schools from all over the county compete to present the best poem and be crowned 2012 champions.

The students immediately got to work creating a poem and, although the girls’ efforts were very good, the one written solely by Josh was voted by the rest of the group as being the best. Entitled Our House the poem is a brilliantly whimsical and creative reflection of Josh’s definitely original ‘take’ on life. The lines include: “The kettle is singing and the toaster has popped/The carpet is hanging and the chandelier’s dropped.” The group learned the poem off by heart and rehearsed the presentation over and over until they were line and action perfect – ready for the Big Night!

On the night, the group settled into their seats in a packed theatre and watched the other schools’ presentations. It was a truly wonderful evening, and certainly dispelled any myth about poetry being boring.

Spoz was hosting the event and is clearly very popular as the audience cheered and whooped when he entered the stage and proceeded to introduce the 15 different schools taking part.

Although we didn’t win a prize, the group was actually mentioned by name in the judges’ summing up, one judge (Dreadlock Alien!) quoting a couple of lines and saying how much the poem – and its presentation – had impressed him.

As this was the first time Wolverley had entered the competition, we were greatly cheered by the response to the poem and will definitely be going back next year.

  • Taken from Wolverley Whispers school magazine