Bring poetry into your school with Poetry By Heart
Founded ten years ago by then Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion and current co-director Dr Julie Blake, Poetry By Heart is the national poetry speaking competition. It’s free and open to all schools in England, primary and secondary, and invites young people to choose poems they love, learn them by heart and perform them in a school or college performance event. School staff then select students to enter the national round of the competition, submitting videos of their poem performances.
Pupils in Year 3 to Year 13 can enter the national competition but there is nothing to stop schools involving younger pupils in school activities. Teachers, librarians and indeed any school staff member can also take part in their own competition category, the All School Staff competition.
This year’s competition closes on 28th March, but you can run your own Poetry By Heart competition whenever you want. It’s a brilliant way to get everyone enjoying poetry, talking about it and sharing their favourite poems.
The special Poetry By Heart competition box has everything schools need to run the competition: a printed how to guide, a booklet of poems to share, 12 posters to create displays plus extras from poetry partners including the Stephen Spender Trust, and a poem a month calendar with activities related to each featured poem to help you learn it out loud.
We have half a dozen competition boxes to give away. To enter, simply email info@poetrybyheart.org.uk with your name and address. Include Poetry By Heart World Book Day Competition in the title of your email.
Send in your World Book Day competition entries by Tuesday 30 April 2024.
Good luck!
Poetry By Heart is funded with the support of the Department for Education. Find out more https://poetrybyheart.org.uk/ and sign up to take part https://poetrybyheart.org.uk/register .
