The Impact Of Poetry By Heart On Young People

Through Poetry by Heart, not only have we increased the profile of poetry in school, but we have given our children a rare opportunity to develop their personal confidence, self-esteem and resilience. And we have done this in a context of shared enjoyment, warm relationships – and lots of laughter.

Joan Stark

South Walney Junior School (SWJS) is right on the end of the Furness peninsula in Cumbria, on an island to the west of Barrow-in-Furness, accessible by one road bridge. It’s a remote part of the country, with poor transport links to other areas. Because of this, our children have restricted access to the arts. Trips to a theatre or art gallery are a major expedition and bring substantial costs, which many families can’t afford.

But Walney Island offers many unique curricular opportunities, and the staff aim to expand the children’s horizons in as many ways as possible. We have run Poetry By Heart in the school since 2022 and it offers us a window into a wider world through the work of poets past and present, and from other cultures, extend our knowledge of the world and ourselves through rich, living language.

We let each child choose whether to take part in Poetry By Heart after a clear explanation of the commitment. Attendance for an hour once a week after school is expected, with work at home on memorising and practising. The rate of drop-out has been low each year; in 2024, all the children opting to take part were at the final performance.

Having a national finalist going to the Globe Theatre in 2022 boosted the numbers wanting to take part. Eleanor was an excellent role model, promoting the programme enthusiastically. The children saw themselves represented by her success, showing what an unassuming girl from our local area could do – in London!

At SWJS, the proportion of children receiving Pupil Premium funding (21%) is in line with the national average (24%). The proportion of children with additional needs is 26%, above the national average (17%). Each year, the Poetry By Heart group has attracted a majority from both of these categories, as well as children who have been observed to be struggling in school with anxiety, behavioural/social/emotional and family issues. PBH proved to be a haven of security and encouragement for the group, which enabled them to feel accepted and just be themselves, appealing to some children who are hard to reach.

Michelle Banks, Deputy Head of SWJS/English lead and Y5 teacher, has led the programme since 2022 – inspiring, energising and persuading the children to take part and to persevere to overcome their feelings of nervousness, anxiety and, sometimes, inferiority. As a colleague of many years and a lifelong lover of poetry, I worked as a volunteer supporter alongside Michelle and we were fortunate to be joined by the much-loved retired headteacher from the feeder infant school, another lifelong poetry lover.

PBH started in a small way with a group of six Y5/6 children, which grew to 20 in 2023 and 2024. Michelle and I choose a bank of poems from the Poetry By Heart website and each child selects one that appeals to them. The first challenge is reading and learning the words, then gradually gaining confidence in performing; conveying a poem’s meaning and feeling in a personal way.

From January each year, the group meets weekly to practise. We explain vocabulary, put it in context and work on pronunciation and articulation – a slow process at times, but helped by the support of the group. Everyone is encouraged to give positive, supportive feedback, which the adults model. We can’t stress enough the power of a positive community of poetry lovers helping each other, showing kindness and understanding when things are wobbly and cheering when all is well. We watch videos of the poems being performed by other children and by actors, looking for specific learning points. Timidity and ‘losing the plot’ turns into pride in accurate memory.

In 2023 and 2024, just before submitting the videos to the PBH judges, we invited visitors to celebrate all the children performing their poems in the hall, either in person or on video. Parents, grandparents, family members, governors and other community members came in 2023. In 2024, we were joined by our MP, Simon Fell; a senior member of the South Cumbria MAT; and the current head of the feeder infant school. Every child performed their poem in person, receiving a certificate, bookmark and badge.

The celebrations were hugely successful. The children shone with pride and confidence. Many parents were amazed at what their children had achieved. Simon Fell posted on social media: ‘I was astounded by the quality, confidence and life the students breathed into their chosen poems.’

I interviewed children in addition to collecting comments during our weekly sessions. They were all overwhelmingly positive about PBH and gave similar reasons for their enjoyment.

Every child used the word ‘confidence’, describing how they initially felt nervous and apprehensive before gradually becoming certain about their performance before an audience. It was interesting to hear how they chose their poems, linking them to their lives and feelings. One girl said she chose her poem because ‘it said something to me inside and I really loved it.’ They responded at a deep, emotional level.

Another personal and social benefit for the contestants was learning to talk to children they didn’t know and to adults. One commented ‘I didn’t think I could talk to a grown-up I didn’t know before.’ They learned how to offer opinions and suggestions to members of the group.

All said PBH had shown them that poetry is for everyone and to be enjoyed. They had learned to memorise and perform, something that they didn’t think they could do at the start. They all said how much it had improved their reading through repetition and fluent, expressive reading: ‘My reading has got so much better because of poetry. I wasn’t a good reader before but now I am,’ said one.

The benefits of learning poetry by heart have been huge, improving resilience, confidence and oral skills. Next year, Michelle has plans to roll this out to Y3/4, using learning and performing poems like ‘Instructions for Growing Poetry’ with whole classes.

Poetry By Heart, the national poetry speaking competition, is open to all schools and colleges in England. Registration and participation are free and the 2025 competition will open on National Poetry Day, 3 October 2024. For further information, email info@poetrybyheart.org.uk