Poetry in schools can open the door to so many other areas of learning and skills. It can be the springboard to other literature and texts, more articulate and confident students, and can engage students like no other medium. Kathy James offers some ideas...

There is too much fuss about poetry being difficult and irrelevant, when in fact it is the stuff of everyday life. It is there in our song lyrics, birthday cards and read at most weddings and funerals – and so it is no surprise that it delivers good things in the classroom.

Poetry offers food for thought, and lays down a real challenge to young people when trying to express their readings and reactions.

Wales still includes spoken communication in its GCSE English language, and while moderating a discussion – The School Curriculum: Education for Life or Exam Factory? – we were interested to hear a year 11 lad (articulate, but much much more likely to be found chatting Chelsea than Shelley) say that studying poetry had stretched his spoken skills, and got him “talking about complicated ideas”.

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