Friday 10 July 2015

CU Poetry Slam 2015 Winners

Those of you who follow Children's University on Facebook (and if you don't, why not?!) may remember that we ran a CU Poetry Slam competition in June. Our children had to write a poem about Children's University, in any format, on any scale. We wanted everything from a haiku to the next Odyssey!

True to form, our young passport holders didn't disappoint. We received loads of fantastic entries, highlighting once again the talents that our children possess, the same talents that were celebrated at last week's final of the Wicked Young Writers' Award competition.

We had a wonderful time reading all of the poems we were sent and we felt that every entry was worthy of a prize. In the end though, we had to select just 5 winners. This wasn't easy but the 5 winning entries are, I'm sure you'll all agree, absolutely brilliant efforts and deserve all of the praise we can heap upon them.

So, without further ado, may I present to you the winners of the Children's University Poetry Slam 2015!


  


Children’s University

Children’s University is so cool
Out of hours learning not just at school
Gymnastics, brownies, dance club too
That’s how I get my stamps, how about you?

All these experiences help me learn
And get me ready for the big wide world!

Preparing for my future head of me
What will I become, what will I be?
It’s all up to me…

Poetry written by Renae Whyte
Year 4, Abbeywood First School




  

The Weight On My Shoulders

Sometimes there's a weight on my shoulders, It feels like massive boulders.

If I tried to carry it to school
I would fall down on the floor and look like a bit of a fool

But when there's someone to share the load, It makes things easier along the winding road

But when there are friends and family to help me out, with the love they give i'll succeed no doubt.

With a helping hand and a loving touch
I'm happy now no load is too much

Ryan Harper, Year 3, Abbeywood First School





Congratulations again to all of our winners and a huge thank you to all of our other entrants for sending us such cracking poems! If you're anything like me, you now can't wait for next year's competition.

Catch you next time!

Ian

Friday 3 July 2015

A ‘Wicked’ Achievement from members of Middlesbrough CU



Here’s an achievement to make you green with envy!

Ever heard of the musical, Wicked? It takes the classic story of The Wizard of Oz and turns it on its head, making us question what we’ve always been told to be true.

The musical follows Elphaba (the so-called Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda (the Good), revealing the ‘true story’ behind their friendship and their struggles against adversity as the two young women follow their fateful paths.

The Wicked Young Writers’ Award is a competition that uses the key messages of Wicked to encourage young people to look at life in a different way and to express their creativity through writing.

After some fantastic encouragement, a phenomenal 100 children from Middlesbrough CU entered the 2015 competition. 

From this, 5 children registered with the Iron Guidance charity, with which Middlesbrough CU collaborates, were selected as finalists in the 5-7 age category! The original press release about it can be read here.


The 5 girls were invited to attend the Wicked Young Writers’ Award ceremony in the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London on June 29th. And it was an awards event like no other!


Bathed in a green glow, beneath the watchful gaze of a giant mechanical dragon, the finalists listened raptly as the winning entries in each age category were read aloud by members of the Wicked team and cast.


The finalists were also treated to 2 beautiful songs from Wicked, delivered by the cast (‘For Good’ is one of my personal favourites!). Finally, Cressida Cowell, author of the How To Train Your Dragon book series, talked to the talented young writers and took part in a Q&A session.


The weather was beautiful, our CU passport holders had a wonderful time and their stories and talent have been immortalised in print in the official Wicked Young Writers’ Award 2015 book. Debbie even got our copy autographed by them for when they make it even bigger!

Combine this with the amazing poems we received for our CU Poetry Slam competition (winning entries to be published next week..!), and it’s fairly safe to say that our CU children are a truly talented bunch of Munchkins!

Catch you next time!


Ian