Poetry at Our School

At our school, we believe that poetry is for everyone. We want every child to experience the joy of listening to, reading, performing and writing poetry, while developing confidence as readers, writers and speakers. Our poetry curriculum is carefully planned from Year 1 to Year 6 and is inspired by the principles of the CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award) approach, placing high-quality children's poetry at the heart of learning.

Our Approach

Each class studies three poetry units across the year, with one unit taught each term. Our mixed-age classes follow a two-year rolling programme, ensuring all children experience a wide range of poets, themes and poetry styles during their time at school.

Every unit follows the same learning journey:

• Read – Children immerse themselves in a high-quality mentor poem by an established children's poet.
• Respond – They discuss themes, vocabulary, language choices and the poet's message, developing understanding through questioning, discussion and shared exploration.
• Perform – Children rehearse and perform poetry using expression, intonation, pace and audience awareness.
• Create – Pupils plan, draft, edit and publish their own original poems, applying the techniques they have explored.

This sequence encourages children to become confident readers, performers and writers of poetry while developing a genuine appreciation of language.

Our Curriculum

Our poetry curriculum has been carefully sequenced so that knowledge and skills build progressively from Year 1 to Year 6.

Key Stage 1

Children enjoy a wide range of poems through listening, discussion and performance. They learn to recognise rhyme, rhythm and repetition, explore descriptive language and begin writing simple patterned poems based on familiar experiences such as seasons, celebrations and animals.

Lower Key Stage 2

Pupils deepen their understanding of how poets create imagery, atmosphere and character. They explore personification, expanded noun phrases, powerful verbs and narrative poetry before composing and performing their own increasingly ambitious poems.

Upper Key Stage 2

Children study a diverse range of contemporary poets and explore themes such as identity, community, different viewpoints and the natural world. They investigate metaphor, symbolism, imagery, free verse and performance poetry before creating thoughtful, original poems for different audiences and purposes.

National Curriculum Coverage

Our poetry curriculum fully supports the aims and statutory requirements of the National Curriculum for English.

Spoken Language

Throughout every poetry unit, pupils develop confidence in spoken language by:

• participating in discussion and debate
• listening and responding appropriately
• asking and answering questions
• articulating and justifying ideas
• performing poems using appropriate intonation, volume and expression
• presenting work confidently to an audience

Reading

Children are taught to:

• listen to, discuss and enjoy a wide range of poems
• learn, recite and perform poetry by heart
• discuss the meaning of words and phrases
• explain how language creates meaning and effect
• identify themes, imagery and poetic devices
• recognise different forms of poetry
• prepare poems for performance through careful reading and interpretation

As pupils move through the school, they develop from discussing favourite words and repeated patterns to analysing figurative language, symbolism, viewpoint and authorial intent.

Writing

Children learn to:

• compose and rehearse ideas orally before writing
• write for different purposes and audiences
• use ambitious vocabulary and figurative language
• experiment with rhyme, repetition, free verse and narrative poetry
• draft, edit and improve their work
• evaluate the effectiveness of their own and others' writing

Progression ensures pupils move from creating simple patterned poems in Key Stage 1 to writing increasingly sophisticated free verse using metaphor, symbolism and carefully structured language by the end of Year 6.

Vocabulary, Grammar and Language

Poetry provides meaningful opportunities for children to apply grammar and language knowledge in context. Across the curriculum, pupils learn to use:

• adjectives and expanded noun phrases
• powerful verbs
• conjunctions and varied sentence structures
• fronted adverbials
• personification
• similes and metaphor
• repetition for effect
• imagery and symbolism
• purposeful line breaks and poetic structure

Rich and Diverse Poetry

Children encounter a broad range of high-quality poets and poetry collections throughout the curriculum, including:

• Joseph Coelho
• Brian Moses
• Rachel Rooney
• Valerie Bloom
• Pie Corbett
• Benjamin Zephaniah
• John Agard
• Matt Goodfellow

Alongside carefully selected classic poets, these writers introduce children to different cultures, perspectives, voices and styles of poetry, helping them understand both traditional and contemporary forms.

Performance Matters

Performance is an integral part of every poetry unit. Pupils rehearse, refine and perform poems throughout the year, developing fluency, expression and confidence. Opportunities such as poetry cafés, showcases and class performances encourage children to communicate meaning through voice, gesture and audience engagement.

Vocabulary and Creativity

Each poetry unit includes explicit teaching of ambitious vocabulary, figurative language and poetic techniques. Working walls, shared writing, model texts, sentence stems and guided practice support pupils in developing their own unique poetic voices. Children are encouraged to experiment with language, take creative risks and reflect on the impact of their writing.

Our Aim

By the time children leave our school, they will have developed a lifelong appreciation of poetry and the confidence to read, discuss, perform and write poems with creativity and purpose. They will understand how poets use language to communicate ideas and emotions, perform poetry with fluency and expression, and compose original poems that reflect their own experiences, imagination and voice.

Our aim is for every child to leave primary school believing that poetry is not only something to study, but something to enjoy, share and create.