A Visit from a Poetry Champion!
On Wednesday the English department played host to a World Cup Champion – not of football, but of poetry! World Poetry Slam Champion Harry Baker took time out of his current UK tour to perform his poems for students at RGS, including ‘Perfect People’ which as Harry pointed out is officially, technically, the best poem in the world (‘according to five random judges’). His poetry reflects his love of language, patterns and play – a Maths graduate who is also a fluent German speaker, Harry demonstrated brilliantly the importance and richness of making connections across the curriculum and in life, and students had time to contemplate the improbability of bees’ flight, the woeful choice of colours for men’s wellies, the beautiful weirdness of prime numbers and the fact that a slug, in German, is a naked snail…
As well as performing for 1st, 2nd and 4th form students, Harry also ran a workshop for students on the longlist for the RGS Poet of the Year Competition. This was a fantastic opportunity to create, edit and share work in a truly supportive, inspirational space and the students left buzzing with ideas and confidence in their own unique voices. Results of the competition will be announced this term – and results of this fabulous day of creativity and wonder will be filtering into classrooms already!
