National Poetry Day comes around only once a year, but such is the enthusiasm for verse at HBS that the celebrations have lasted for two weeks!

Over the last fortnight, students have been treated to a fantastic assembly given by Year 12 English prefects focussing on poetry on the theme of ‘play’ – the National Poetry Day theme for 2025. Nidu, our KS4 Poet Laureate, also joined the assemblies to share her thought-provoking poem on the theme.

In addition to the assemblies, over 100 students submitted poems on the theme of play to a competition, which was initially judged by the Year 12 English prefects. The English department’s Mr Graff and Mr Haigh made the final judgements on the winning poems for each year group, and selected students for the coveted positions of Poet Laureate for KS3 and KS5.

On Monday 6 October, around 80 students crowded into an English classroom to hear the results of the competition. Mr Haigh was joined by a team of prefects to announce the winners and special commendations for each year group, while Mr Graff took to the stage to crown (or wreath?) the Poet Laureates, Kyara (Y9) and Tvisha (Y13), to rapturous applause. A selection of poem were also read aloud by their composers. The Poet Laureates will now be responsible for composing poems to mark special events and occasions, and sharing their pieces in assemblies.

Another great year for poetry as HBS! In the week that the Nobel Prize for Literature 2025 has been awarded, we hope that some of our students may be found in the anthologies of English poetry in years to come.

Mr Haigh