Tameside school children take to poetry

From suffragettes to football, pupils have expressed what their local communities and heritage mean to them by writing poems on the theme of ‘Place’. 

There were more than 200 entries to a schools’ poetry competition organised by Tameside Council, as part of the ongoing Tameside Loves Reading campaign.

The competition aimed to inspire and encourage a love for poetry among pupils. 

It was one of many projects running within the three-year Tameside Loves Reading programme to help improve literacy skills and help children achieve more at school. 

The overall winner of the competition, judged by poet Conrad Burdekin and Tameside Council Chief Executive Steven Pleasant, was Class 3MM at Canon Burrows CE primary in Ashton with their poem ‘This is the Place’. 

The winners and runners-up in the individual categories were as follows: 

Primary - Group Poem:

• Winner - This is the Place by Class 3MM, Canon Burrows CE Primary.

• Runner up - This is the Place by Wild Bank Primary School.

Individual Poem:

• Winner - Space of Sadness by three members of Y5, Hollingworth Primary.

• Runners up: In the Forest by Cerys, Aldwyn Primary; and The Place of Dreams by Finlay,  St Christopher's RC Primary. 

Primary - Young Poet Award:

• Winner - Arran, Mottram CE Primary (Blue Class).

Main image:

First place: Canon Burrows Primary School pupils celebrate winning the group poem in the competition.