Celebrate National Poetry Day (6th October 2023) or World Poetry Day (21st March 2024) with an in-person or live streamed workshop from As Creatives!
National Poetry Day is the annual mass celebration on the first Thursday of October that encourages all to enjoy, discover and share poetry. As every year, we have developed a brand new poetry programme to tie in with the theme of National Poetry Day 2023. This year’s theme is “Refuge” – and this year’s programme is Refuge Rhymes.
Refuge Rhymes - Primary Workshop
Refuge Rhymes comprises workshops in which pupils explore and use the poetic form of dramatic monologue to write persuasive, collaborative verses focusing on: Refuge for Animals (EYFS – Year 2/P1 – P3) … Refuge for Friends (Years 3 & 4/P4 & P5 … and Refuge for Strangers (Years 5 & 6/P6 & P7).
Refuge Rhymes can accommodate the whole of up to a two-form entry school in a single day, opening with an assembly at which a member of our team shares a favourite poem. If time allows, we can include a second assembly, too – during which classes perform their poems. It’s also possible, too, to deliver longer workshops to fewer classes – and these longer workshops would see children writing some of their own individual poems too. Whichever option you choose, though, we will send you designed and illustrated versions of all the work.
Refuge Rhymes -Secondary Workshop
Recent events across the world have made us all even more aware of the need to offer refuge to people less fortunate than ourselves. But more aware, too, of the charged atmosphere often surrounding the issue. Refuge Rhymes strips away the rhetoric in workshops seeing students exploring and using the poetic form of dramatic monologue to write persuasive, collaborative verses focusing on the raw humanity of the challenge.
Refuge Rhymes can accommodate up to 30 students at a time in workshops lasting from a single lesson, allowing a member of our team to work with a large number of students in just one day. It’s also possible, too, to deliver longer workshops to fewer groups – and these longer workshops would see students writing some of their own individual poems too. Whichever option you choose, though, we will send you designed and illustrated versions of all the work!
Our workshops are also available all year round.
Remember - every poem has to start somewhere. So start yours now – and get in touch today!
“I wanted to email to thank you for today's inspiring (streamed) workshops. The pupils were all fully engaged through your scientific knowledge and your inclusive poetry collaboration which was both fun and successful. This term I run a poetry club for Year 5 and in today's session we used a random object generator to choose a subject about which to write a clerihew to follow up from your workshop." Clifton High School
Poetry Assemblies - EYFS / KS1 / KS2 / P1 - P7 / S1 - S3
Start your poetry day with a poetry assembly beamed straight to your hall or classroom! Our assemblies can be tailored to meet the theme of your day - please contact us for details.
Poetry Live - EYFS / KS1 / KS2 / P1 - P7 / S1 - S3
These workshops last up to an hour at a time – and, as they can lead to poems on any subject of your choice, they provide a fantastic way of linking poetry to other areas of the curriculum! After being introduced to one of our favourite poems and the subject of theirs, pupils will be guided through a drama activity designed to support them in developing their ideas. Experimenting with rhyme, rhythm and pace, they’ll then get the opportunity to choose how to populate their own verses, writing and performing them.
"Each class thoroughly enjoyed the poetry workshops and enjoyed taking an active role in order to create their ideas. Using drama to create an orchestra of sounds for our soundscape poems was fantastic to see and I know that we plan to use this strategy with the children again! Thank you for inspiring the children, so they could create such wonderful ideas!" Windsor CP School
Environmental Celebrations
After a quick assembly sharing our love of poetry – and an environment-themed poem, children participate in collaborative writing workshops (complete with drama-based workshops), usually for a year group at a time. And the outcome? A beautifully crafted poem, celebrating the environment, that’s unique to your school - and that will get its very first performance at a second, celebratory assembly for participating classes at the end of the day!
Planet Personification
What if the Earth itself could bear witness to some of the environmental changes it has witnessed over the aeons – or even over just the last ten years? What would it have seen – or heard? How would it feel – and how would it relate to the creatures that inhabit it? What does it remember – and what would be its hopes (or fears) for the future? This highly imaginative and interactive workshop allows students to harvest the fruits of both their own and their classmates’ imaginations as they explore notions of empathy to construct some uniquely moving poetry.
"The immersion aspect was particularly effective in engaging the pupils and this led to high standards of written poetry. All teachers were full of praise for the workshops and were delighted with the pupil outcomes and engagement. We would love to arrange another visit for next year!" Head of English, Immanuel and St Andrews School
Soundscape Poetry – the Sound of the Seasons
Those pupils who claim they don’t like poetry will be writing furiously at the end of this magical poetry workshop. Realising the power of “sound”, they’ll design and perform two soundscapes set in the same environment – but one heard in summer and the other in winter. We’ll then guide them through a structure supporting them in crafting richly descriptive poems that tell both individual and collective stories in which the writers’ choices are central.
Shakespearean Environmental Clerihews
In many of Shakespeare’s plays, the setting, or environment, plays a character in its own right. What would A Midsummer Night’s Dream be without the forest? And Macbeth would be a very different play indeed were it not for the brooding presence of Glamis Castle. This experiential workshop uses drama techniques to introduce students to a key environment from a play of your choice and explore how it both acts as character and helps drive the narrative – then supports them in crafting Clerihews, four-line, descriptive, rhyming poems, packed with descriptive language.
Find out more about our full range of poetry workshops available throughout the school year.
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