Many congratulations to Toby Richardson (Y8) and Skye Telling (Y4), our Christmas poetry competition winners! Congratulations also go to Emie-May Burnett (Y9), Sam Laycock (Y7), Zachary Kelly (Y3), Amelia Kelly (Y5) and Izzy Greenwood (Y3), our runners up.
There were many excellent entries (around 30) and I had the pleasure of reading them all. Every single pupil who put pen to paper to flex their creative writing muscles should be very proud of themselves.
Toby and Skye’s poems, and excerpts of the runner up poems, will feature in the Carol Concert next week. But here is a sneak peak of the winning poems… They are excellent, I am sure you will agree.
Claire Park
Head of English, Curriculum and Enrichment
Christmas Eve – 1914
The wind whistles and rages
Over the top of our dingy trench,
Mud and slush soak through our boots,
Drenching us to the core
Of our sore, frost bitten hearts.
We shoot at the Germans,
And they at us, pointlessly,
For a no-man’s land of half a mile.
The men of my trench slumber restlessly,
While I sit, and remember Christmases gone by.
And then, amid the symphony of quiet sighs,
As if in a strange, angelic dream,
Voices drift over no man’s land,
(Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht.)
All signs of drowsiness instantly disappear.
Suddenly, one man jumps out from the safety of our trench,
And with hands above head, advances towards Fritz.
We await combat, but none comes.
As it is not gunfire we will exchange tonight,
But gifts, cards, and true Christmas spirit.
By Toby Richardson, Year 8
Christmas
Formed in the frozen stratosphere,
Spinning and tumbling as it drew near.
Ice covered pollen from a summer born flower
Crystals forming in the midnight hour.
White as the wing of a holy angel,
Soft as the hay in the little stable.
Unique as the birth of the baby king,
Who lies in the manger as the angels sing.
The perfect snow flake, falling light
As the church bells ring on Christmas night.
By Skye Telling (Year 4)