In Spring term 1, Year 6 were studying Narrative Poetry which coincided with Onchan School invite to partake in the 'Never Such Innocence' First World War themed poetry competition which was assumed was a competition in the Isle of Man at the Manx Museum. After the school expressed their interests, they were invited to the opening of the event at the museum and learned of the scale of the event where poets from all over the United Kingdom are invited to enter.
Following the opening event, Onchan school pupils learnt about the First World War (the given topic of the competition). The Sainsbury's advert about the Christmas Day Truce and learned about the trenches also proved instructive. The children then decided the topic of their poems – some choosing The Somme, some writing from the perspective of the families at home and some as the horses in the battles. Every poem written by the Year 6 was written to an extraordinary standard and the school were blown away by the maturity and understanding the children demonstrated through their writing.
The poems were posted to the Never Such Innocence competition in February and whilst in France, an email was sent to teachers Mrs Amanda Gravestock and Miss Beard informing them that Josh Carridge had been awarded runner up in the competition out of 1400 entries. Not only had he come runner up, him, his mum, and Teachers had been invited to the prize giving ceremony at the House of Lords in London on May 16th. The poetry was shortlisted by a panel from Coutts, sponsors, and judged in a seven hour process by a panel of eight judges who included Stanley Johnson (Boris' Johnson's Dad), Viv Newman, a poetry academic, a poet, and several other poetry related aficionados!
This is the first time Onchan school have known of someone being awarded a prize in this competition which is a fantastic achievement and are over the moon with Josh's achievement and cannot wait for the prize giving ceremony.
