Schools’ poetry competition 2024: results

‘THE VOICES OF A RIVER’

Judged by Robert Macfarlane

Results are in for our poetry-writing competition for key stages 2 and 3. Seven North Norfolk schools entered poems on our theme ‘the voices of a river’ and world-famous writer, Robert Macfarlane, who also spoke at the festival in October, kindly read through dozens of entries (whittled down to a long list from many more) to choose two winners and two runners-up in each category, along with seven highly commended entries.

The prizes

The winners each received a signed copy of Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris’s beautiful book The Lost Words, along with a national book token for £25 – which the runners-up also received. Certificates and £15 tokens went to all those whose poems were highly commended. As the school with the highest number of award-winning poems, Wells-next-the-sea Primary and Nursery was awarded in Friday assembly a copy of The Lost Words for their library.

Erin, from Alderman Peel High School, with certificate, book and book token for her winning poem

Betty, Lily and Milana from Wells-next-the-sea Primary and Nursery School hold up their awards

The judge:

Robert Macfarlane is celebrated internationally for his beautiful writing and influential books about nature and landscape. He has won many of the most prestigious awards and is Professor of Literature and the Environmental Humanities at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Robert has created projects with film-makers, artists, musicians and campaigners and written many, many essays and introductions for reissues of forgotten nature classics. His own 11 books include Mountains of the Mind, The Wild Places, The Old Ways, Underland and The Lost Words. His most ambitious book project yet will be volume about rivers which is due for publication in 2025: Is a River Alive?

Judge’s summary

This is what Robert Macfarlane wrote about all the North Norfolk schools’ poetry competition entries he judged:

Reading these young poets’ river-poems was a joy! Vivid, passionate, precise, fast-flowing, deep-pooling: there was a glorious variety of tones, styles and forms in evidence, often lit by background artwork. It was exciting to see how empathetic many of the poets had been towards rivers: these often-forgotten presences with whom we share our landscapes and our lives. The eyes of children see brightly and the hearts of children feel keenly –– both wonder and anger were present in the poems; wonder at the voices and gifts of rivers, and anger at the ways they have been mistreated. To all the pupils who entered –– please, keep writing, watching and listening to the living world as you have done. It will always answer you back.

Key-stage 2 results:

Winner – from Wells-next-the-sea Primary and Nursery School – Betty with: ‘The river’s wonders’

Runner-up – from Wells-next-the-sea Primary and Nursery School – Milana for ‘I asked the river’

Highly commended – from Wells-next-the-sea Primary and Nursery School – Lily for ‘The river’s story’; from Langham Village School, Charlie for ‘The river’; from Walsingham CE VA Primary School, Mollie-May for ‘The river song’ and Sophie for her untitled poem.

Please scroll through the slideshows above and below to read the winning poems.

Key-stage 3 results:

Winner – from Alderman Peel High School – Erin, for her poem: ‘I’m free’

Runner-up – from Smithdon High School – Bethany, for her poem: ‘The life of a river’

Highly commended – from Alderman Peel High School – Thomas, for ‘River Poems’; from Gresham’s School – Albert and Isla for their poems, each called: ‘The voice of a river.’

Many thanks to all the schools who took part and submitted entries. The schools’ poetry competition started with Poetry-next-the-sea and has been running for over twenty years. Please watch our website for details of next year’s competition, with a theme to match the 2025 festival.

If you are a North Norfolk teacher or home educator and you are interested in entering the competition next time round, please email us at info@literatureandlandscape.org if you would like us send you details in summer 2025.