The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Poetic pupils to represent city
POETIC Peterborough pupils will pit their wits against the best the East of England has to offer as part of a national poetry competition.
The Voyager Academy, in Mountsteven Avenue, Walton, has been selected for a place in the regional final of Shake the Dust, a national celebration of the power of spoken word in education, in light of its commitment to the arts.
Year eight pupils Addoina Peters, Charlotte Baggaley, Toni Jones, Haarisah Ameensa, Georgina Perry, Amy Lewis, Tyler Purdy and Genesia Lessey will travel to Norwich on Friday, May 25, to represent Peterborough in the event.
The team, along with four other schools in the Eastern region, will take part in a so-called “poetry slam”, a competition where participants perform poems that are then given a score by judges.
The highest scoring team will go on to represent the region at the national Shake the Dust weekend at London’s Southbank Centre in July.
The campaign aims to help youngsters develop their creativity, selfexpression and confidence through poetry and spoken word.
Louise Hill, head of community arts and extended schools at The Voyager Academy, said: “It is a testament to the ethos of the academy that our pupils will be representing Peterborough in the regional final of Shake the Dust.
“As a media arts specialist school, we are proud to see our pupils perform at the regional final and hope they can make it through to the national final in the summer.
“The pupils have all worked very hard and they should be proud of their achievements.”
As part of their preparations for the competition, the academy’s pupils were given a lesson in performance poetry by Mark Grist, former Poet Laureate of Peterborough, Chief Bard of the Fens and Edinburgh Fringe slam champion.
If successful, the youngsters from the academy would compete against eight other teams of young poets from across the country in the national final, in what organisers have described as “an unparalleled celebration of young people’s voices and the power of spoken word”.