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National Poetry Day 2021

Thursday 6th October 2021 saw Thornleigh Salesian College celebrate National Poetry Day 2021.

But which poem to choose? Should we watch Simon Mole’s poetry workshop for guidance? When we write our own, should we make it rhyme or not?

If you haven’t guessed already, this year’s theme is choice! During English lessons this week, teachers shared some of their favourite poems with students and directed them to the National Poetry Day website where they could read some of the official poems about choice, listen to poets recite their poems and even watch a poetry workshop.

Our celebrations didn’t stop there because this week we made the decision to swap ‘Word of the Week’ for ‘Poem of the Week’ in form time. Students were encouraged to read ‘Instead’ by Brian Moses and explore the choices the speaker wanted to swap ‘instead’ of their many electronic devices.

Year 7 pupils have also been given the opportunity to participate in Thornleigh’s National Poetry Day Competition. During their lessons, they had the chance to join in with Simon Mole’s poetry workshop as a starting point for their own poem ideas. They could choose to follow his poem idea or they could choose an idea of their own…that’s the whole point of this year’s poetry celebrations: you choose! In the wise old words of Shakespeare: “The choices we make dictate the lives we lead”. They also might dictate if we win the competition or not!