Giles Academy launches poetry competition for primary schools

The last 18 months at Giles Academy has seen many changes and improvements since we become part of the South Lincolnshire Academies Trust in September 2020.

By seeing how proud our students are of the school and the progress they have made has inspired us to launch a poetry competition for Key Stage 2 students in local primary schools with the theme of ‘My Primary School’ – celebrating what students enjoy.

Children from Years 3 to 6 in local primary schools are being encouraged to write their poems about their own school experiences, which could include their favourite subject or teacher, school dinners, travelling to school, homework, being creative or playing sport.

As a reward for taking part, there will be £75 prizes in two different age categories plus the winners will get £75 worth of books for their school, so the whole school can benefit as well. There will also be smaller prizes for highly commended entries.

We have seen a rapid rise in the progress of our students with their Year 11 Assessment of Learning (AOL) data forecasting the Key Stage 4 progress to be +0.09, which now places us ‘above’ national average. This progress in student learning has all been achieved during a national pandemic, which makes it even more impressive.

One of the reasons for this improvement has been through the development of the communications and reading strategy in the school, which is why the poetry competition is an excellent way to celebrate success and promote literacy in schools across the local area.

Mrs Lucy Conley, Executive Headteacher of South Lincolnshire Academies Trust said “We are excited about the poetry competition as I am sure the entries we receive will be hugely insightful and will display real talent. Across the Trust, we are passionate about books, writing and reading for all of our students – it is an agenda which we keenly promote at all times. A key part of this strategy in our schools is closing the gaps between students with a series of proven interventions. We run small groups offering specialist help and have a variety of reading interventions and activities on offer. At each school, we also have older students who are Reading Ambassadors and offer peer to peer support with younger students to develop their confidence and reading skills. As well as offering interventions, we additionally promote a wide range of literacy/poetry competitions and opportunities for enrichment. We are now keen to extend this passion into the local community and to inspire students with a love for poetry.”

The poetry competition will be judged by our Head Students as well as Lucy Conley – Executive Headteacher, Katie Belcher – Head of School and Magdalena Warelis – Key Stage 3 Lead for English.

The closing date for entries is Sunday 27th March 2022 with the winners announced after the Easter holidays.

• For more information about the competition and how to enter, visit www.gilesacademy.co.uk/myschool-competition