Mental health theme inspire creativity in Trust poetry competition

In November 2021, South Lincolnshire Academies Trust launched a poetry competition based around the theme of ‘Mental Health Awareness’ and this was open to all students in every year at Giles Academy, Bourne Academy and Spalding Academy.

The poetry competition was designed to improve creative writing and English language skills plus it is a creative and therapeutic way to express emotions and for students to use their voice to help raise awareness and understanding of mental health issues.

We received a fantastic number of entries last term, which were of a high standard as each student has their own perspective on mental health.

Congratulations to Lola Panton who was the winner at Giles Academy and came first place in all of the schools in our Trust. 

To reward our students, there was a £10 gift voucher for first place and £5 vouchers for second and third place. All of the winners will sit on judging panels for future Trust competitions.

Daisy Bland, Assistant Headteacher at Bourne Academy who promoted the competition in the schools said “We were overwhelmed by the amount of entries submitted across the Trust and the level of talent and ability on display. The students submitted thought-provoking and carefully crafted poems which made the judging of them incredibly difficult. The top three were chosen as a result of their insight, maturity and subtle use of poetic technique. Once again we were thrilled with the response from our students and can’t wait to showcase their brilliant work in the next competition.”

Below are the poems from our three winners: