Our Year 8 pupils have been studying the powerful World War 1 play ‘Journey’s End,’ by R.C Sherriff, which follows the lives of a group of British officers on the front line. In addition, our students have explored the presentation of war, through four poems: ‘Dulce et Decorum est,’ by Wilfred Owen; ‘Suicide in the Trenches,’ by Siegfried Sassoon; ‘Who’s for the Game,’ written by Jessie Pope and Rupert Brooke’s famous sonnet, ‘The Soldier.’ Pupils were challenged to write their own sonnet, in the style of Brooke, producing incredible poetry which conveyed a sensitivity to the theme of ‘honourable sacrifice and love of England.’

In order to extend the learning experience, pupils were presented with an opportunity to perform their sonnets ‘to camera,’ in a World War 1 trench dugout. See the videos below of our ‘Poets in Residence’ at Newminster Middle School.