Beaufort @ Poetry Slam
Beaufort School Grabs First Prize
Last night Beaufort School scooped first prize in the Cheltenham Poetry Festival’s school competition. We were up against teams from Cleeve, Tewkesbury, Balcarras, All Saints Academy and last year’s winners Pittville.
On a brightly lit stage in the Cheltenham Town Hall, the students performed their work, in front of a large audience who were seated at tables, enjoying the show over a sociable drink.
Spoz compared the evening, and kept the mood lighthearted and fun, with jokes, and a performance of his own work. The groups were picked from a hat, so that the order of the performances could be chosen fairly.
Each school entered two groups for the competition, and the quality of the students’ work was very high. There were costumes, and choreography, props and well memorised poems from all the schools for our youngsters to compete with.
The boys group, 50 Centences consisting of Jake Kellaway, Peter Fountain and Josh Howkins, delivered an insightful and witty poem about sport, which was well received by the crowd, but didn’t win favour with the judges.
The girls group, Glamma Gramma, including Chloe Nichols, Larnaca Simmonds, Amelia O’Loughlin, Alisha Lovesy and Kayleigh Thurgood delivered their poem and choreography with confidence, maturity and polish. Their theme of bullying, and the complexities of the emotions felt by both the bullied and the bully, came across clearly, and yet was also entertaining to watch.
There is no doubt that the girls’ constant rehearsing enabled them to display their ideas with wonderful results. They truly earned their first prize trophy.
What is Slam Poetry?
| Slamming is competitive poetry; where the emphasis is on 'good writing', 'good performance' and 'warmth of audience response'. |
| Slamming began in America. It was invented by construction worker/poet Mark Smith in August 1986. The first slam was held at The Green Mill Lounge, Chicago. He invited the audience to play a major role by asking them to judge the poets, using scorecards. Mark Smith says: "The slam is about poets performing professionally to an audience they care about, allowing that audience to enjoy themselves, while presenting them with the most profound and heartfelt poetry the poets can muster." |
| Slamming is exhilarating for the poets, who know that they must be impressive and engaging, performing poems that are relevant to people today (some so up to the minute that the ink's not dry!) |
| It is exciting for the audience, because they help to decide the winners. The Poetry Slam was deemed the 'Best Slam in Europe' at Cheltenham Festival of Literature. |
| The Poetry Slam initiated slamming in Bristol in December 1994 - it proved to be extremely popular. Our slams draw very large audiences, engaging with and enjoying poetry (many for the first time). |
| We held our much loved monthly Open Slams in Bristol until June 1998. The UK Poetry Slam Championships was held at the Watershed on 22 November 1997 and featured 14 teams from around the UK receiving extensive media coverage. |
| We have promoted many of the leading lights of the contemporary poetry scene, including, John Hegley, John Cooper Clarke, Murray Lachlan Young, Ian McMillan as well as Brett Anderson (from Suede) and actor Paul McGann. |
| Every year, we hold annual flagship events during Bristol Poetry Festival and Bath Literature Festival. |
| Since 1996, we have facilitated a growing educational programme throughout South and Central England, including primary, secondary and adult education, plus prisons, rehabilitation centres and teacher training. |
| From 2005 we have been managing Corporate Workshops and Staff Team-Building Days, plus Corporate Entertainment and Conference Icebreakers. Clients include: RAC, Bristol Education Authority, Bristol City Council and the BBC. |
Spoz mentions Beaufort's win on the BBC!
Hello All,
Well ... what can I say? Your young 'uns did you all proud!
I know it must have been a bit scary for some of them, but I really hope they all enjoyed themselves and ultimately had a positive experience!
I'm always really keen to get feedback and make things better, so if any of you have any comments at all - good or bad - then please pass them on to me and I'll see if we can make next year's slam even better! I personally think that the slam was too close to the end of the Easter holidays, so we'll try and get that sorted for next year.
It'll also be great to get a few more Gloucestershire schools involved for next year, so if you're pally with any other English teachers in the county, please give them a friendly "nudge" to join in next year!
I'll try and get the DVD sorted as soon as I can and I'll get a copy out to each school - please feel free to copy it for the students.
All the very best and thank you for your hard work!
Hope to see you next year.
Spoz
p.s. I gave you all a mention on BBC Radio Gloucestershire this morning, here's the link to have a listen if you like. I start around 1:45.15 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00qdj38/Chris_Baxter_20_04_2012/
