Forward December 2015 | Page 54

PR E PA R ATORY S C HO OL Poetry Day “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words”. The emphasis of our Poetry program is on getting students thinking about and enjoying poetry. Our 2015 Poetry Day was held on Tuesday 15 September in Priestley Hall. The 24 students who entertained everyone present on this occasion were hand-picked after all Year 6 students were given the opportunity to learn to dramatise a poem of their choice. These students were selected by Ms Hurley, Mrs Anderson, Mr Day and Mr Taylor to perform in the finals of our Poetry Day program. Poetry promotes literacy, builds community, and fosters emotional resilience. It can cross boundaries that little else can. Poetry can allow our students to paint sketches of their lives, using metaphor, imagery and symbolic language to describe painful experiences, or parts of themselves that they’re not ready to share. Poetry allows our boys and girls to put language to use, to make it serve a deep internal purpose, to break rules along the way (grammar, punctuation, capitalisation), and to find voice, representation and community. Mrs Judith Allen, Mrs Rosalyn TayBrighton and Mrs Lynne Brighton were our adjudicators, and they were faced with the daunting task of dec