Daisy Hardy Poetry Competition

Last year’s Daisy Hardy Competition was of such a high standard that it was felt by a few that it could never be matched.  Well, those “few” were very wrong.  One of the judges, Anna Mack (an English Literature AQA moderator), used the compliments “outstanding”, “life-affirming and wonderful” to summarise the poetic verse that was spoken and performed to the audience by a large number of Fyling Hall students.

From a bank of poetry chosen by the English department, students were required to choose a poem to interpret, analyse and finally memorise ahead of the competition on Friday.  The judges who were invited to oversee the competition by the school included the afore-mentioned Anna Mack, Katherine Griffin, Val Rowe and Mary-Lou Fraser.  They were looking for a sensitive understanding of the words spoken shown through appropriate emotion, clear diction and a convincing delivery.  However, as was confirmed by all of the judges, the decision regarding the winners of each category was made extremely hard by the high and consistent standard shown by all who entered.

Results:

Senior Category

1^st  George Husband

2^nd Holly Kay and Sarah Taylor

There was a Special Award given to Michael O’Sullivan for delivering a moving and extremely well penned autobiographical poem which visibly moved everyone present.

Intermediate Category

1^st Suzie Gaffney

2^nd Asa Jones

3^rd Jimmy Robinson

Junior School Category

1^st  Ben Carpenter

2^nd Tomas Richardson

3^rd Jenna Coleman

EAL Category (English as an Additional Language)

1^st Philipp Lurken

2^nd Carlos Munaiz

3^rd Sabina Cherevichenko and Michal Kuleta

Mrs Woodhead, Mrs Barker and Mrs Park would like to praise all of the English students who were committed enough to learn some very challenging poems and deliver them with such conviction.