Year 8 Find Their Voice Through Poetry in the Power of Voice Project

Over the past three weeks, a dedicated group of Year 8 students have been working closely with poet Tariq Brown to create powerful and thought-provoking poetry as part of the Power of Voice project. This inspiring programme, organised by the National Literacy Trust, gives young people the opportunity to explore issues they feel passionately about and to use both the written and spoken word to express their ideas with confidence.

The project encourages students to engage in social action writing: poetry with a purpose, designed to inspire others to reflect, respond and take steps to make the world a better place. Our students embraced this challenge with maturity and insight, choosing to write about topics such as bullying, climate change, knife crime, genocide and poverty. Their work demonstrated empathy, awareness of global issues and a thoughtful, precise use of vocabulary that resulted in truly impactful pieces of writing.

As the project continues, students will now spend time editing and polishing their poems before practising how to perform them for a real audience. They will have the opportunity to share their work in an online zine and take part in an online poetry festival, showcasing their voices alongside young writers from across the country.

We are also hoping to host a performance event in school so that the wider community can experience just how powerful and moving their work is. The project has already shown how capable our students are when given the space to explore their ideas, and we cannot wait to see their final performances.