Award-winning trio perform poetry rendition at National Theatre

Three 10-year-olds from a school in Wandsworth have won a national competition and taken centre stage at the National Theatre to deliver a lively poetry performance.

Shae Morris, Taliah Hayfron and Bethany Morara from West Hill Primary School, Merton Road are the winners of the top prize in the national Shadowing Scheme that runs as part of the CLPE Children’s Poetry Award, (CLiPPA).

Their performance of Good Listener from Stephen Lightbown’s shortlisted poetry collection And I Climbed and I Climbed impressed the judges so much that they were invited to perform it live on the Olivier stage on the South Bank last Friday.

There was a full house of 1,000 at the theatre and thousands more watched livestream in schools around the UK.

Jane Bettles, the children’s teacher, said, “My class really took Stephen’s poetry collection And I Climbed and I Climbed to their hearts.

“They loved Cosmo’s story and the rawness of his emotions, and this came through in all of their performances. We worked on how to perform, how we thought the poems should be read and had a lot of fun throughout the learning process. We are thrilled to have a winner from Year 5 at West Hill, and loved watching Shae, Bethany and Taliah perform on stage.”

Rebecca Eaves, chief executive of CLPE said: “Huge congratulations to Shae, Bethany and Taliah on their win. We had a record number of entries this year with more than 250 videos submitted but their performance and the understanding they brought to it really stood out.”

The CLiPPA is the UK’s leading award for published poetry for children. As well as celebrating outstanding poetry, the CLiPPA encourages schools to explore the shortlist with their pupils through the Shadowing Scheme, which prompts poetry performances in classrooms across the UK.

Pictured top (left to right): Taliah, Bethany and Shae on stage at the National Theatre staff performing the poem. Picture: Ellie Kurttz.