Poetry by Heart 2026 - School Final

Poetry by Heart 2026

One of our favourite extra-curricular opportunities is the national Poetry by Heart competition. Students are asked to learn a poem and then recite it for an audience. A few years ago, a Year 11 student called Blake Lawrence took part in the national final at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in London - two years later, he became Head Student. So, we know that participation causes a marked increase in students’ confidence and written literacy. It is also a lot of fun!

For this year’s school final, parents/carers were invited to watch the competition, taking place in the drama rooms under the lights! Competitors were assessed by a judging panel of staff on four areas: Performance, Voice, Understanding and Accuracy. The prize? A place in the regional round of either the "classic" competition or the "freestyle" event. In both, students who progress through the next round will perform at the national final at Shakespeare's Globe in July.

Congratulations to our winners below. In brackets, you can see their scores from the event. Students were marked out of 25 so it is clear that competition was high!

Key Stage 3 

 Key Stage 4

 

For these students, they will make a video submission to the regional round - two poems for the "classic" competition, and one for the "freestyle" event. We wish them the best of luck! Well done, though, to everyone who took part – it takes such bravery and resilience to step up in front of your peers! The audience clearly loved the event as well, as this feedback aptly summarises:

The Poetry by Heart event was a really lovely initiative. It was great to see the children taking part with so much confidence and enthusiasm. You could clearly see all the effort that had gone into it, and it made for a very enjoyable and inspiring event. Thank you to everyone who helped organise it.