Exploring the idea that hope is possible and positive in even the bleakest of situations.

Featuring great poems around this year’s theme, Refuge, our free resources are full of ways to get students reading, discussing, performing, and writing – no matter their confidence level. They’re ready to go as worksheets, or you can use them as prompts and thought starters for your class activities. They’re designed by cross-curriculum experts to be used in all sorts of subject lessons, with materials available all the way from KS1 to KS5. By engaging your classes with poetry, you’ll give them their own refuge to express themselves and think about the world around them differently.

Discuss the power of perspective in this thought-provoking resource.

Exploring injustice and contrasts of experience in times of war.

Find refuge in the shared experiences that bring people together across oceans.

A resource focused on finding refuge in a place that is special to you.

Featuring great poems around this year’s theme, Refuge, our free resources are full of ways to get students reading, discussing, performing, and writing – no matter their confidence level. They’re ready to go as worksheets, or you can use them as prompts and thought starters for your class activities. They’re designed by cross-curriculum experts to be used in all sorts of subject lessons, with materials available all the way from KS1 to KS5. By engaging your classes with poetry, you’ll give them their own refuge to express themselves and think about the world around them differently.

Take refuge in nature. Looking at what can be found outdoors to inspire ideas.

Take refuge in mental wellbeing. A poem focused on breathing and your own imagination.

A resource exploring how we can find refuge in the things we collect.

A guide to identifying key or ‘clue’ words within poems that students are reading, providing a framework to reflect on word choice in their own writing. Students will complete a reflection task at the beginning and end of the session. For Key Stage 2 and featuring ‘Sonnet with particles of gold’ by Nina Mingya Powles.

National Poetry Day (1st October 2020) is an annual celebration of poetry and all things poetical. It is about everybody sharing, reading, writing and enjoying poetry. Use this pack of tips and activity ideas and join in the celebrations – not only on National Poetry Day itself but all year round. It’s full of activities for teachers (both primary and secondary) and also contains book recommendations.

A comprehensive toolkit, full of tips and advice for how to make the most of the big day and the positive impact poetry can have on learning and well-being.

A guide to identifying the meaning and significance of line-breaks in poetry. Students will explore the rhythm, pace and meaning of poetic lines with creative activities using reading, group writing, independent writing and performance. For Key Stage 3 and featuring ‘caribbean woman’ by Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze.

A guide to exploring the theme of choice about our relationships with others in the context of troubling societal attitudes to inclusion and exclusion. For Key Stages 3-4 and featuring ‘Nothing Personal’ by John Mole.

A guide to Theodora Shillito’s ‘The Story of Squiddly Diddly’, a poem about marine conservation and recycling, commended in the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2020. This resource encourages students to think about how the choices we make affect the environment. For Key Stages 2-3.

A guide to using hindsight to evaluate how choices affect different situations and creating metaphors from these findings. For Key Stages 3-5 and featuring ‘Drifting Away, Together’ by Jacob Hill, from the Longcroft School and Sixth Form College First Story Group.

This guide offers practical steps to utilise Poetry By Heart’s vast online collections to enjoy this National Poetry Day challenge on your own or with friends. For Key Stages 1-2 and featuring ‘Eletelephony’ by Laura Richards.

A guide to exploring the meaning behind words and finding connections to inspire writing. For Key Stages 3-4 and featuring ‘Semantics’ by Keisha Thompson.

A guide to reading and responding to a poem that provokes ideas for writing. For Key Stages 2-3 and featuring ‘More Pointless Questions’ by John Agard.