It& #39;s @PoetryDayUK today (though of course every day is & #39;poetry day& #39;). At Grasmere School we often use poetry and other forms of creative writing to explore concepts across the curriculum. It deepens understanding, and promotes questioning. For example, you can& #39;t write an...

...account of being an astronaut leaving Earth, without having to find out a lot about what actually happens to the human body, mind and spirit in space.

In history lessons, Class 4 are learning about Dunkirk. They studied a poem by Megan Pattie this week, and responded to it...

...with their own poetry. Being a teacher is such a privilege. To be in a classroom where this is happening is a life-affirming experience. Upper junior children are capable of great great things... Here is Hope& #39;s poem.

Yet the flights of the waves, day nor dark,
Could not lap clear away the flitting anxiety.
And the cold brushed comfort from its remains -
Come a cold of no brittle frost, or a visual breath
But of a night drawn from within these men.

cont...

A dampened peace, the black devour upon foul scent,
Divide the deepest ancestry of friends
Tiresome orders cease as moonlit silences emerge,
A hopelessness untold but seen, with minds blank.
From the light comes peace and help.

There is no light.