Children's Poetry Competition

Woodlands Farm's writer in residence, Clare Best, organised poetry competitions at two local schools: Kirton Primary School and Middlecott School Kirton. Children wrote on subjects connected with the farm and with healthy eating. Many of the poems entered were written at Clare's workshops following school visits to the farm.

Gerard Benson, the well known children's poet and performer, and founder of 'Poems on the Underground', was competition judge and prize-giver. On National Poetry Day, October 6, he performed his own poems, read out the children's winning poems and awarded certificates and prizes at special assemblies at both schools.

Middlecott School Winners

Year 8

I will put in the magic box for mum

I will put in the box the hairy but rough skin of the cow from the bottom of his eyes to the tip of his nose
I will put in the box the fruit that looked like male turkey's noses
I will put in the box the smell of all that tangy manure, of all those lovely animals
I will put in the box that sweet, sweet brewing smell of the plants, animals and fruit
I will put in the box the warm but very breezy wind that felt like the silk you touched
and in the box are the wool and horns of the sheep
and inside the box is the purple rim of the onions
and a light pink when I saw your face
but the thing that seals this box is my love for you

Jordan Scott

Middlecott School's Poems