On 10th February the BLC held 2 back-to-back performance presentations of just some of the poetry written by our talented year 5 children across the cluster, inspired by TS Eliot’s Old Possums Book of Practical Cats. 240 children gathered at The Ritzy cinema screen 1 in Brixton for the events, and all classes performed poems they had written together as a class, as well as some fine solo writing and performances. What was particularly striking, was the way the children brought the structure of Eliot’s poetry into their own work, as well as experimenting with vocabulary and rhyme. In many ways, the study of these Eliot poems is secondary school stuff, but clearly the year 5s had worked to a very high level and had produced fabulous work. Now some of the poetry and artwork inspired by the project is being prepared to be exhibited in Carnegie Library in Lambeth during March. Thanks again go to the poet Jared Louche for helping the children discover Eliot’s work, to all the staff who have supported the children and to Clore Poetry and Literature Awards for funding the project.
The Brixton Learning Collaborative 