On Thursday 6th October, FHS celebrated National Poetry Day with a superb array of activities.

We restarted Poem of the Week with a fantastic contribution from Isabella, one of fabulous Sixth Form English Prefects. She chose ‘Autumn Fires’ by Robert Louis Stevenson, a wonderful poem about the joys of Autumn. Next up, Miss Shevah and Mrs Street organised ‘poetry bombs’ to be spread around the school. A combination of well-known words and original writing from Year 7, it was lovely to see the walls of the school covered with such inspirational words. Mrs Buchanan has also been eagerly receiving entries for the national ‘Power of Poetry’ competition. This competition has an environmental theme, and the deadline is still a week away if any student would still like to enter.

Finally, the highlight of the day, a ‘Poet for Hire’ station was set up in the playground for a lunchtime takeover. Mr Fernandes, Mrs Buchanan, Mr Russell and Mrs Street collaborated to create poetry on request for students. Topics such as dolphins, Christmas and determination were proposed, and the team had to put their creative hats on to compose a poem. Mr Russell seemed to be the popular choice, as the fame from his ‘Elegy to HM’ has spread.

The English department thoroughly enjoyed this day of celebration and look forward to more fun next year.

Mrs Buchanan, Teacher of English