Ruth Smith
Deputy Head of Primary
At Hiba Primary, the purpose of incorporating poetry into the curriculum is to foster creativity, self-expression and a deeper appreciation for language among pupils. Every writing unit begins with an exciting 'hook' designed to spark the pupils’ curiosity and get them engaged with the upcoming topic. By creating a sense of purpose and excitement around writing, the school encourages pupils to see writing not as a task they "have to do," but as an opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas in a meaningful way. This approach empowers pupils, making the writing process more relevant and enjoyable, as they understand how their work connects to the world around them. Currently, the focus in each grade is on poetry, and the pupils are exploring different poetic forms, discovering the power of language to communicate both personal and universal themes.
In Grade 3, the teachers decided to take a unique approach by connecting poetry to their current science lessons on ‘forces’. To captivate the pupils’ interest, the teachers wrote and performed their own poem in the form of a rap. This creative ‘hook’ immediately engaged the Grade 3 pupils, who were excited to see how poetry and science could come together in such a fun and dynamic way. The performance sparked a wave of enthusiasm, and now the pupils are eager to write and perform their own raps, combining the rhythm of poetry with the concepts they are learning in science. This method not only made the poetry unit exciting but also highlighted the importance of giving pupils a sense of purpose in their writing, showing them how they can use poetry to communicate ideas, tell stories and even teach others. With this approach, pupils are not simply writing because they are told to, but because they are motivated by the creative possibilities and the desire to share their work with others.
Matthew Morris
Deputy Head of English
The lights dimmed. The children held their breath. What were they about to see? The teachers had brought them upstairs with nary a word of their purpose. The energy built and they began to shout out that they were ready, and then -
the beat dropped.
Stepping on from just out of camera shot, came the somewhat familiar site of Mr Morris. And yet, he wasn’t in his usual tie and jacket he sported a pair of dark glasses, jeans, and a Run-DMC T-shirt. He nodded in time with the beat…
and then… he started to spit bars.
Riding a golden era hip-hop beat the lyrics came thick and fast, detailing the Kingdom and Phylum of the Linnean classification system. As soon as his eight bars of fire were over, Mrs Campher grabbed the mic to drop some science. She got lyrical about Class and Order, before Mr Norman stepped in to bust a rhyme about Family, Genus and Species.
The pupils of grade 3 sufficiently educated, these new rap gods dropped their mics and left.
The pupils could barely contain themselves. “It was very cool and very funny,” said Jenny in 3A. Grade 3 headed back to their classrooms to rewatch the hottest music video to come out of Hiba Primary in years. Clutching copies of the lyrics they leapt at the chance to read it, finding out what all of these new words meant and looked forward to tearing it apart to learn the intricacies of rhyme scheme, rhythm, onomatopoeia and simile.
“I was excited,” said Yuki in 3C, “because I wanted to write a rap and perform it with my friends.”
That, then, was how the Grade 3 English team got their pupils excited about writing their own science raps to learn about poetry. Watch this space!
