National Poetry Day is an annual event that encourages people to read, write, experience and share poetry. Featuring well-known poets such as Joseph Coelho  and Benjamin Zephaniah, Discovery Education’s new National Poetry Day resources will inspire pupils to discover, share and enjoy many different types of poetry, from traditional rhymes and free verse to Japanese Haiku and dub.

Discovery Education’s new poetry resources include:

• Poetry Videos:Bringing poetry to life for pupils to enjoy
• Short Poems:To read aloud, with classroom discussion prompts
• Poetry Activities: To help children discover and understand a wide range of poems
• Mini Poetry Lessons:Lifting poetry off the page, differentiated by Key Stage
• Classroom Inspiration:Ideas for marking National Poetry Day in schools

Lizzy Lambley, Discovery Education’s UK Head of Production said: “Discovery Education is proud to support National Poetry Day by providing teachers with engaging resources that will  inspire children’s love of poetry. Poetry has so many benefits for children. It improves reading and writing, opens doors to cultural awareness and supports emotional literacy, and most importantly, poetry can help students make sense of the world around them in new ways.”

The National Poetry Day resources are available to Discovery Education subscriber schools via Discovery Education Espresso. A curriculum-centred daily learning platform, Discovery Education Espresso includes a wide range of poetry resources and activities that support teaching throughout the year.

The newly appointed Waterstones Children’s Laureate (2022-2024), Joseph Coelho (pictured left), has revealed details about the first campaign in his role as the foremost representative of children’s literature.

The award-winning performance poet, playwright and children’s author will launch ‘Poetry Prompts’, in partnership with BookTrust, on National Poetry Day tomorrow marking the beginning of an epic celebration of the power of poetry in all its forms. Through the campaign, Coelho aims to break down the fear often associated with reading and writing and show why poems are for everyone, alongside the joy that writing, reading and performing poetry can bring to our lives.

National Poetry Day also marks publication of Coelho’s latest collection Blow a Kiss, Catch a Kiss: Poems to share with little ones (Anderson Press, 3+), and his YA verse novel The Boy Lost in the Maze (Otter-Barry Books).

Coelho said: “Poetry Prompts is my invitation to the nation, young and old, to become poets. We turn to poetry at weddings, funerals and births because it goes beyond mere words and translates the soul. But there is baggage associated with poetry that I want everyone to put down – to allow everyone to reclaim the birth right of poet. So often I’ve met children and adults scared to put pen to paper, terrified of ‘getting it wrong’ – this has repercussions in all aspects of life. I want to show everyone that poetry is for them, that we can enjoy the rules and break the rules.”

From National Poetry Day onwards, Coelho will share a weekly ‘Poetry Prompt’ video to inspire the nation, young and old, to write poems and to become poets. Each video will see Coelho exploring a different subject or technique – such as similes, onomatopoeia and figurative language – and showing how this can be brought to life in fun and engaging ways through poetry.

The first ‘Poetry Prompt’ will tie in with the theme of this year’s National Poetry Day – the environment – and will see Coelho creating a new poem inspired by the sounds of the environment, and showing the freedom that comes with poetry having no rules – ‘it’s your poem and you’re the boss’ – with the suggestion that poems can even be written on a leaf fallen from a tree, bark of a branch, or a stone.

The bitesize video series – each lasting under ten minutes – will be shared on the BookTrust website each Monday morning, with teachers encouraged to share during registration time to help inspire students to pick up a pen and start writing their own poem. BookTrust, the UK’s largest children’s reading charity and who manage the Laureateship, are set to distribute a Poetry Prompts poster to almost 20,000 primary schools to help inspire children to take part in the campaign and create their own poems.

BookTrust and Joseph Coelho will also be collaborating with the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), who are the National Poetry Centre for Primary Schools, to create a host of resources to accompany the Poetry Prompts, which will be available to download on the BookTrust website and free for use in schools, libraries and at home to encourage further learning and exploration of poetic form and literacy. These resources will be accessible to everyone and will encourage children to read and perform Joe’s poetry and be inspired to come up with ideas for their own poems. Coelho has been a patron of the CLPE since 2019.

Diana Gerald, CEO of BookTrust, added: “At BookTrust we believe all children should be able to enjoy the lifechanging benefits that reading and sharing stories can bring. Poetry can be a powerful gateway into storytelling and can help children to develop their creativity, imagination and inspire them to read, write or perform their own stories to express a whole range of emotions or topics that they are interested in. We’re incredibly proud to support Joseph Coelho on his mission to break the misconceptions about poetry and hope children and families are inspired to celebrate poetry in all its forms and use it to find their own voice.”

The unique poetry and nature resource pack is available nationally, yet also forms part of the Young Poets project from the National Literacy Trust, which aims to improve pupils’ enjoyment of writing, their motivation to write and their attitudes to poetry. It also encompasses the RSPB Wild Challenge, an award scheme encapsulating a suite of specially-developed activities to support schools to engage children with nature and provide practical learning opportunities.

The creative activities developed by the National Literacy Trust and the RSPB will support and guide teachers to inspire their pupils to write and perform poetry through outdoor exploration of nature.  The resource includes a series of lesson plans, encouraging students to be inquisitive about the natural world and provide them with meaningful experiences of the outdoors, whilst also meeting national curriculum requirements for writing.

This resource has been written with school grounds in mind, and the poetry-based lesson plans created by the National Literacy Trust enable pupils to draw on their sensory experiences to describe nature’s beauty, empathise with wildlife to write and perform poetry. These activities build on the five pathways to nature connection – senses, emotion, beauty, meaning and compassion – and promote creativity and literacy skills through a poetic use of language.

Sean Cumming, Young Writers Project Manager at the National Literacy Trust, said: “We are delighted to offer our new poetry and nature resource to schools, created in collaboration with the RSPB. Engaging students in poetry helps to promote enjoyment of writing, inspiring feelings of creativity and provides an outlet for self-expression. As poets and writers have always looked to nature as a source of inspiration, we are confident that the focus on nature in the resource pack and the opportunities it provides for classes to explore the outdoors will deepen students’ knowledge and appreciation of nature and improve mental wellbeing.”

Suzanne Welch, RSPB UK Education & Families Manager, said: “We are very proud to be working with the National Literacy Trust on this inspirational resource. It is exciting to be part of something that joins creativity and the environment together in a powerful way. Using nature as stimulation for writing allows children to reflect on what they experience in nature so they can hold on to those moments and use them as inspiration and establish strong connections to wildlife and community. We hope that teachers and children across the country enjoy these activities and explore the great outdoors with all their new skills!”

To access the resources, please visit: https://literacytrust.org.uk/resources/writing-from-nature-a-poetry-resource/

SPOKEN WORD POWER is a 3 year national spoken word poetry programme for school age young people. SPOKEN WORD POWER embeds spoken word poetry teaching, practice, writing and performance skills into the nation’s school life. By first providing young people with the support to create and perform their own spoken word poetry, then supporting schools to provide a platform to showcase their work, SPOKEN WORD POWER will engage a whole new generation of primary and secondary school students with the spoken word art form.

Matt Lane, Eastside Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director said: “Creative education in many schools across the nation continues to be threatened by Covid restrictions, demanding STEM targets and reduced budgets. At Eastside, we believe that training in the arts is more important than ever.

“The three year project that we are launching today, SPOKEN WORD POWER, will provide thousands of young people with exciting opportunities to use the spoken word to develop their creative thinking, unlock their imaginations, broaden their horizons and build up their confidence. The project will support young people to articulate their opinions and develop their voices, approaching key issues with a critical mind and a positive attitude.”

James Bridge, UKNC Chief Executive and Secretary-General, commented: “The UK Commission for UNESCO is delighted to work with Eastside Educational Trust and partners in supporting SPOKEN WORD POWER. The project and the young people’s poems are inspiring and help unlock creative potential. The SPOKEN WORD POWER poetry slams are a key contribution to UNESCO celebrations on World Poetry Day.”

Through participation, young people will develop the confidence, skills and creative acumen to write and perform their own spoken word poetry, showcased at over 180 school slam events, 15 major regional spoken word events (celebrating World Poetry Day) while becoming published in annual SPOKEN WORD POWER anthologies.

Matilda Thaddeus-Johns, Eastside Schools Programme Manager said: “We are excited by the potential of this project, and would like to encourage as many schools as possible to engage with our free classroom resources online to get their pupils writing and performing their very own original spoken word poetry.

“This year’s theme is Speaking My Truth and Eastside’s experience of running poetry programmes for schools has demonstrated just how effective spoken word poetry is in enabling young people to find their voice whilst accessing the English curriculum in new and exciting ways.”

By first providing young people with the support to create and perform their own spoken word poetry, then supporting schools to provide a platform to showcase their work, SPOKEN WORD POWER will engage a whole new generation of primary and secondary school students with the spoken word.

Find out more https://www.eastside.org.uk/eastside_programmes/spoken-word-power

World Poetry day is on 21 March https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldpoetryday