World Book Day Poetry Conference for Notting Hill and Ealing High School by Lauren Clarke, Notting Hill & Ealing High School

Each year World Book Day celebrates all forms of literature from poetry to prose, and this year Year 10 students from Notting Hill and Ealing High School gathered outside Ealing Town Hall for a morning dedicated to writing. The morning was split into two sessions with the first session run by Daljit Nagra. Nagra introduced students from Notting Hill and Ealing High School to some of his poetry, including ‘Singh Song’, which has been added to the AQA English Literature GCSE poetry specification. Referring to this, one student said “I liked how Nagra read a range of different poems but mostly how they connected with issues in the modern world”. Afterwards, students were given time to try writing their own poetry or prose, and the opportunity to read their work aloud. After a short break, students were back to listen to Hannah Lowe’s session. Hannah Lowe shared some useful tips on how to approach questions about poetry in English GCSE exams, giving students time to practise analysing poetry in groups. Later, Lowe read aloud some of her poetry, including extracts of her powerful poetry from ‘The Kids’. 

Full of opportunities to write and practise analysing poetry with newly learnt skills, while hearing the poetry and asking questions of two experienced and interesting authors, this poetry conference certainly made this year’s World Book Day stand out for the Year 10s at Notting Hill and Ealing High School.