Children at Priory Infant School in Ramsgate were treated to a visit from the brilliant performance poet and author Simon Mole.
Mr Mole, who is part of the London-based company of Poetry trail-blazers, Apples and Snakes, became poet-in-residence at Priory for a day, working with all the children and teachers to help them make poetry rock!
Reception classes played games to hone their rhythm skills and then made up a group poem based on happiness.
“The children were mesmerised,” said English Lead Sally Halford. “They loved rapping with him and the musicality of his poetry. He really brought out the best in them. He made making poetry seem so easy and so much fun.”
Children in Year 1 were inspired by his latest book: ‘I Love my Bike’ and used their poetry skills to create poems about their dream bike; while Year 2 had fun casting poetry spells.
Year 2 teacher, Steve Holmes, said: “It was such an amazing opportunity for the children to write with a famous author and poet. Working with Simon made me feel more confident about teaching poetry and inspiring the children to be even more creative in their writing.”
Head Teacher, Tracey Sandy, added: “It was fantastic to have such a great male role model reading and writing with the children-inspiring all our children to love reading, especially our boys, who sometimes can be a little more reluctant than girls at this age, to pick up a book and engage in poetry.
“This is something we take great pride in at Priory and are always looking at ways to develop. Prior to his visit, the children watched some of Simon’s videos in class, so the children were excited to meet a real celebrity too!”
Phoenix in Reception summed it up, saying: “I’m going to write a million books when I grow up.”
