“Do you like Poetry a little more than when you came in?” was the question that Poet, Ash Dickinson asked  at the end of the Year 8 Poetry Workshops on 3rd and 4th November.  To which there was a resounding “Yes!” sung in unison from the whole class.

Ash is a firm favourite at Imberhorne, being invited back every year, his workshops are lively, fun and inspirational.  This year he delivered a one hour workshop to every Year 8 class over the two days he spent with us.  Haikus and Clerihews were the poetry forms of choice and went down really well with all the students.

A haiku is a three-line poem where the first line has five syllables, the second has seven, and the third has five. The style originated in Japan, and  it was something completely new to introduce to our Year 8’s.  Having been given time to work on their own haiku, there were some wonderfully creative poems shared.  Jasmine Webber in 8LDN is a Brown and White belt in Karate and she used her love of martial arts to inspire her haiku about a wish for a 'talking black belt'. 

Moving on to Clerihews, a very short type of poetry with a specific form, the students enjoyed hearing Ash’s own poems about Tom Cruise, Miley Cyrus and James Bond. A clerihew must have four lines and consist of rhyming couplets, it should also be about a famous person. After being encouraged to write their own, Elinor Field showed wonderfully creative flair with her poem and commented “I’ve enjoyed writing poetry today more than I thought I would. The clerihew was more fun to write as you can make it rhyme”

The workshop ended with tips on considering rhyme, rhythm, feeling, mood, imagery, repetition and words, when writing poetry.  The students displayed enthusiasm and  confidence throughout the workshops and  were supportive of each other’s ideas as well as being somewhat inspired. Mrs Hughes, English teacher accompanying the workshops said ‘Having Ash in school was a great opportunity for the students to meet a real, live poet. What’s more, he confounded their expectations of what a poet should be. Rather than being grey and bespectacled and reading from a book, he was a young, dynamic entertaining performer.The students particularly liked the poem, ‘Method Poet’ – where Ash immerses himself in different situations to become a poem. This included being a post-it note in a cabinet, which led to four brilliant lines about stationery.