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Ode to blank paper

Year 7 group poem

Oh blank paper!

You desert of whiteness, you warden that keeps words boxed in four corners.

You make me feel full of ideas but empty with words.

You are a blinding light blocking me from seeing my full ability.

Oh bank paper!

You make my pen write me into a knot I can’t untangle.

You are a maze with no way out.

Once you were a tree that didn’t want to be chopped down

So now you paper cut my every thought into nothing.

Staring at you is like banging my head against a wall.

Oh blank paper!

White as the clouds, you stare at me blankly, you leave me wondering.

You tell me to draw, to do something! You inspire a big knot in my gut.

You make me feel dumb because your blankness is a test I never pass.

My mind wanders for answers but your whiteness is a desert I am lost in.

You look at me with a hungry face and swallow my words, I am full of ideas but empty of sentences.

Hundreds of words run around my head but I can’t catch them to put into your mouth. Everyone in class can fill you up but I write and what I mean gets rubbed back off.

Oh blank paper!

You make me feel full of ideas but empty with words.

I’M MADE OF

I’m made of beautiful clothes that shimmer like clean glass. I am made of colours that wrap around me like a warm, cuddly scarf.
Blue, red, orange and green reminds me of a rainbow that crosses me to a magical land.

I am made of the time when I wore my mum’s clothes instead of wearing my clothes, and got into trouble. I am made of laughter and giggles and my family and friends.

What makes me me me? My sister makes me me, with her kind nice heart. She is always there for me.
What makes me me? My sister makes me me, with her… and her… she is always there for me.
What makes me me me? My sister makes me me, with her Converse and her Vans that she got for me.

We are made of friendship that helps us to create a big family.

I’m made of helping my teacher to be respectful.
I’m made of shining like the sun to make people happy.
I’m made of keeping secrets to be loyal.
I’m made of being loyal and respectful to my friends no matter what, For I will do anything for my friends.

I am made of Nigeria.
Nigeria is awesome because it’s sunny.
I get to see my family,
But I most like, no I LOVE,
Nigeria’s awesome food like eba, fufu, fried rice, ayamase and egusi soup.

I’m made of rhythm and drumbeat
Smiling twisting turning happily
Getting together, having celebrations,
Birthdays, weddings and any excuse
We jig and jingle and jangle to music.

We are made of different cultures coming together. However,

I feel that my friendship might fall apart.
I am made of angry energy building up like a volcano exploding in my belly.
I worry that all the arguments with my family might come together in my SATs and make me fail.

I have a side of me that can change any second of any day.
I am made of my heart, a rhythmic drum, always keeping to the beat. I am talkative, but I have a hidden side.
I am a small enigma. No one knows who I really am.

WHAT ARE YOU MADE OF?

Here’s St John’s Angell Town Primary’s poem from the BLC Poetry Slam, that got them a place in the final 4 in the competition. A great performance St John’s!

Gossip Demon Gossip

Gossip works with truth and lies
Gossip works like a train spinning round and round
Gossip works Monday to Sunday
Did you know Gossip works at Primark
Gossip works at supermarkets
Gossip works at all corner shops
Gossip sneaks around behind your backs.

Chorus
Gossip demon gossip
Always spreading gossip
Spreading in the wind
Spreading in the playground
Spiky like a porcupine
Laughing like hyenas
Repeating like a parrot
Story eater
Nosey talker
Gossip demon gossip

In PE he said “I’m not good at tumble turns”
It made me angry, it made me sad
But my friend said “I am super sensational”

My Uncle said “Auntie’s no good at looking after the kids”
“But it’s not true. She buys us vegetables and fruit.”

My Auntie says she has lots of money and I have none
But she doesn’t know about the £50 in my Kids Space pencil case!

Chorus
Gossip is like butter melting on toast
Gossip is patrolling the streets like teenage boys on bikes
Gossip is a door that you can’t open
Gossip stomping around like a ginormous elephant
Gossip is like a mad monkey jumping tree to tree
Gossip zooms as fast as a meteor

Chorus
What goes around comes around
Trust yourself to ignore it
Stop your gossip
Gossip is terrible
DON’T plant ideas in people’s heads
STOP! And your friends will follow

After 10 weeks of writing, editing and rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal this week saw the BLC Poetry Slam competition day arrive and our 10 school teams gathered at The Ritzy cinema in screen 1 on Tuesday morning. A fantastic atmosphere from the start as our poetry workshop leaders Adisa, Joshua Seigal, Neal Zetter and Kat Francois introduced and entertained us with an inspiring morning of poetry. Their poems were good, of course, but the real stars were the 10 teams of children who’s standard of work was extraordinary. The children not only showed their writing talents, but every child performed with confidence and demonstrated teamwork at its best. St Saviour’s CE Primary wrote and performed the winning poem and went home with shining medals around their necks – well done St Saviours. However, every child performing was a winner on Tuesday morning. Huge thanks goes to our judging panel of established theatre and poetry writers and performers Joe Coehloe, Dan Cockrill and Linda Miller and to all the school staff who have worked on the project all term, nurturing the children’s talents. Look out for the poems on subsequent blog posts!

In this week’s Maths and Photography session Y4 pupils were using digital photography to find shapes and letters in their environment.

In Loughborough Primary School pupils worked in pairs to find letters which spelt out the following 3 words: Think
Try
Friend

The letter I for example was found in a pole or a drain pipe or markings in playground.
The pupils were challenged to find multiple ways to see or create the same letter.
There was enthusiasm and excitement for this activity and some groups even managed to find up to 15 examples for the letter N.

Afterwards the pupils continued to work in pairs to work on a mathematical photography treasure hunt which included tasks such as taking a picture of: – 2 objects that measure roughly the same length
– Something with a symmetrical pattern
– something the same length as your arm
– a polygon
– a geometrical shape with at least one obtuse angle

And problem solving such as:
The tallest person ever was 272cm tall. How much taller than you is this? Show to your partner this length and take a picture of something that is shorter.

Learning outside of the classroom with a fun and imaginative approach.

here’s a taste of the Eliot Now primary poetry project

This week the Project Manager at SHINE was ‘feeling under the weather’ and the tutors and students ‘didn’t lift a finger to help’. “Don’t let success go to your head” she said. They all started to help, they knew they were ‘skating on thin ice’. Yes, you guessed it, at SHINE we have been learning all about idioms by acting them out and trying to make up some of our own. ‘Putting your head in a crocodile’s mouth’ was one the Sharks group came up with. In maths, we have been having just as much fun learning Japanese multiplication, there are Youtube videos that can help you multiply in different ways. Look out, next week,for pictures of the costumes that we are making.

Over the last few weeks Y4 pupils from Hill Mead, St John the Divine and Loughborough Primary School have been using art, design and photography to learn, develop and hone their maths skills. Learning about shapes, angles and the importance of accurate measuring among other mathematical principles.
Week One involved learning about creating 3D shapes including cubes and tetrahedrons with week two reviewing this work and creating 3D structures in teams.
Week 3 involved making a pin hole camera using every day materials such as tin foil, cardboard boxes, tape and black card. The importance of accuracy in measuring in order to find and make the pin hole in the centre of the made cube shaped box was practised and all students created and personalised their own pin hole camera.
Week 4 pupils went out into the playground to use their own pin hole camera to to take a photo. Pupils were instructed in relation to using estimation of distance in relation to taking their photo, estimating time in relation to exposure, and the difference between taking a photo in the shade and in the sun. Many pupils marvelled at the lack of need for electricity to take the photo.
A dark room was also made in each school, converting rooms such as meeting rooms or resource rooms into environments where the pupils photos could be developed safely. In small groups, all pupils with aprons and gloves on, entered the dark room and took their photos through the developing process whilst back in the classroom pupils learnt about the different measurements of chemicals needed to develop their picture and revised their learning with quizzes and worksheets.
Next week pupils will review the photos they took and will also work with digital cameras to continue their learning using photography with maths.

Despite the awful weather 74% of us made it into SHINE this week , with St John Angell Town, Hillmead, and St John the Divine primary schools, achieving 100% attendance. Well done!
For all those who did not attend this week you missed the return of Mr Umekwe, who use to teach at SHINE. He came back to teach us more about division and has promised to return again soon. We also performed our own Elizabethan dance and wrote a diary entry as Macbeth, letters to the King Duncan warning him about Macbeth’s intentions and letters to the 3 witches telling them our heart’s desires!

As it was Chinese New Year, we had a Chinese lunch of Sweet and Sour Chicken and vegetables, noodles, rice and spring rolls. We even had Chinese Lucky Red Candle sweets!
Next week we are off on our trip to The Globe Theatre, remember you all have to be at SHINE at 9am and wil return at 4pm, on that day. Have a great Week!