How did your school get involved in the Community Arts Partnership’s Seamus Heaney Award/Poetry in Motion Project?
I got an email through school with information about the project and decided to apply. I knew that my new class found writing challenging and I really wanted to motivate them and get the best possible outcomes in their independent writing.
How was your experience with the project?
We all absolutely loved our visits from Linda. She made the sessions fun and accessible for the children. Linda quickly established their interests and their level of abilities and geared everything towards them perfectly.
There was definitely quite a lot of extra work involved in uploading poems, editing work, etc. but it was really worth the extra time and effort.
How do you feel the students responded to the project?
The students looked forward to Linda’s visits. They loved having their own poetry books for planning, ideas and illustrations. They felt that it was a special, fun time. Some pupils who are difficult to engage, have special learning needs and have poor concentration really engaged with the sessions and I was pleased with their results. We have written poetry since and I know that the children have improved poetry writing skills as a result of the PIM sessions.
How did you and the students feel about winning an award for their work in the project?
We were ecstatic to win! We had watched the online event which was quite long for my P5s! Our section was near the end and the children loved seeing themselves reading their poems. When we were announced as winners we squealed with delight – it was so loud that the principal heard us and came in to watch a rerun of our bits!
Do you feel there was a benefit for the students through this Community Arts Partnership project?
The partnership was beneficial to the students and the staff. I have made a friend for life in Linda! She had a great impact on the children and they responded so well to her mentoring. They loved her and still talk about her. The techniques they learned have been carried on throughout P5 and will help them in P6 too.
