Over 70 children in Sudbury have taken part in St Gregory CEVC Primary School’s first ever Off By Heart Poetry Festival to celebrate National Poetry Day.

The pupils at the school in Church Street were given a list of poems and asked to choose one to learn by heart and perform in front of their class.

There were different poems for different age groups, with children in Key Stage 1 looking at work by poets including Spike Milligan, A A Milne and Roger McGough and children in Key Stage 2 tackling poems by Lewis Carroll, Walter de la Mare, Roald Dahl and Allan Ahlberg amongst others.

Some children then performed their poems to the school in a special afternoon assembly.

Daniel Woodrow, the school’s headteacher, said: “We had tremendous fun learning our poems and the Festival was a real success. The children’s performances were incredible – they spoke with such clarity and expression and we are really proud of them. Speaking with confidence and being able to express yourself are key life skills and that is why we started the festival and it is lovely that we were able to introduce the children to so many classic poems and poets too. We’re already making plans for next year’s event.”