Students explored their poetic talents last Friday as they performed in the school round of the annual Poetry by Heart competition.
Contestants from Years 9, 10 and 12 chose two poems to recite entirely from memory from the Poetry by Heart anthology in the hope of progressing to the national final held at Homerton College, Cambridge in the spring.
Much-loved children's author, Anne Fine, kindly agreed to be a guest judge - our students were thrilled to meet her! Anne was impressed with the level of talent as all students did a superb job in their performances. However, after outstanding renditions of Porphyria's Lover by Robert Browning and Sea Rose by Hilda Dolittle, Year 12's Grace Tarpey was crowned as our school winner!
Miss Donahue, competition organiser and English teacher at Teesdale School said: "This a wonderful and unique opportunity for our students to take part in a country-wide competition where they can engage with poetry in a whole new way, going beyond the classroom and stepping out of their creative comfort zones. I am immensely proud of the whole group and what they have achieved over the last few months."
We would like to say a huge well done to the students that took part or supported in some way, and best of luck to Grace for the next round – our fingers are crossed for you!