Our Year 6 class thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to work alongside poet, Fred Sedgwick, over a period of two days. The majority of their writing was based on ideas generated from the stimulus of Shakespeare, with a high standard of writing produced as an outcome from these sessions. The class then spent half a day looking at playground rhymes and clapping games, which could be further developed in their role as Play Leaders with the younger children.
Fred Sedgwick has a particular passion for Shakespeare and certainly inspired the children during his two days at Skyswood. Here are two extracts from the Seven Stages poem that the children produced collaboratively:
The Baby
For the first thirty minutes of his life he was screaming,
Whining, like a new kitten, as it dribbles down mum’s new dress,
A horrible stench of rotten milk hangs around him,
While he gurgles until he vomits, leaving a terrible stain on the carpet.
The Old Man
A frail old man walked down the street,
His cranky old face staring at the ground,
A grey clump of hair squatting on his head,
His face emblazed in forgetfulness,
His shoulders hunched,
His walking stick tapping a rhythm on the pavement as he walked.