Counting for change on National Poetry Day

One Churchill Fellowship

My introduction to the Churchill Fellowship was through Leon Clowes (CF 2011).

I can proudly say that I am one of the 140 Fellows from the 2023 cohort.

I travelled to research Poetry in America. For over ten years the organisation, created by Dr Elisa New, has changed the lives of teachers and students across America.

I was able to see how transformative poetry is in education.

My report is titled ‘The Power of Poetry in Education’ but it is so much more than that.

Poetry is life-saving, life-changing and life-giving.

Two GCSEs that I have

Permanently excluded at the age of thirteen and placed in Frances Barber Pupil Referral Unit.

My education finished at 13.

I went back to education at 34 years of age.

I attended South Thames College in Tooting to take two GCSEs.

I achieved an eight in English and a five in Foundation Maths.

I will be returning to teach poetry, in 2025, to students in that very same unit.

Three years of Lost Souls Events

Lost Souls Events is an equal, diverse, and inclusive poetry focused open mic night, as well as a Lost Souls poetry slam.

Spoken word, performance poetry, and speaking and listening should all be included as elements in any English lessons and future poetry lessons. This is something that our current English GCSE model does not measure.

How will we find our future poets if they cannot find their own voice?

Four achievements of mine in the USA

• A UK/USA partnership with Poetry in America.
• A fellowship at the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, Arizona State University.
• I was recorded, as a guest speaker, for season five of Dr. New’s TV show ‘Poetry in America.’
• Winner of both the Boston and Arizona poetry slams.

Five steps of potential pedagogy

Enrolment, participation, progression, development, and graduation.

This is something I strongly believe in and it should be child-centred and teacher-centred.

Six weeks in the USA

Two weeks, four days in Boston, Mass.

Three days in New York.

One week in Austin, Texas.

Two weeks in Tempe, Arizona.

Seven months since I came back from my travels

I submitted my report and it was accepted.

Eight is the age of my daughter

Her introduction to and continued learning of poetry enables her to express how she feels and what she thinks.

9-1 grading for GCSE English

We score our children’s learning, knowledge and achievements with the grading system telling them failure is between 4-1 and success 9-5.

What message does that send to our children about how they should value themselves?

Ten years is my target

To see Poetry as a separate subject on all Key Stage levels and a separate GCSE/Secondary School equivalent qualification.

Inspired by Hannah's journey to champion Poetry in education? Apply for a Churchill Fellowship and start your own path to make a difference.

Plus, read Hannah's full report, The Power of Poetry in Education, and purchase her first poetry collection, 'Extremely Aggressive, Uneducated and Rough’.