This week, to mark National Poetry Day, pupils gathered for the final of the Lyttleton Poetry Prize to showcase their declamation skills.
This long-running, annual event is a highlight of the English department calendar, offering a truly joyous celebration of pupils and of poetry. It offers an important opportunity for pupils to deepen their appreciation of poetry and bring the emotion of the verse to life.
We were delighted to award the following prizes and congratulate all who entered the competition for their engaging choices and outstanding performances:
Junior Winner – James, Y8, who declaimed from the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Junior Highly Commended – Florence, Y7, who declaimed Red Fox by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
Intermediate Winner – Gray, Y10, who declaimed The World is a Beautiful Place by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Senior Winner – Verity, Y12, who declaimed The Shield of Achilles by W H Auden
Senior Highly Commended – Gwen, Y13, who declaimed The Way Through the Woods by Rudyard Kipling
Original Composition Winner – Mia, Y13, who declaimed Am I A Poet? Self-penned (pictured below)

Every pupil in Y7-Y11 chooses their favourite poem to rehearse at home and recite in front of their class. Two or three pupils per class then progress to the semi-final, which takes place in the week of National Poetry Day. An important condition of the prize is the emphasis on declamation, rather than acting. No props, costume or movement are allowed.
Roland Powell, co-Head of English, explains: “Hearing our pupils recite verse from memory highlights just how talented, insightful and creative the young people of Highgate are. In the same evening, we watched as pupils breathed new life into 700-year-old words, mastered intricate postmodern free verse and – perhaps most bravely of all – voiced their own thoughts and images through original compositions. That’s what makes the Lyttleton my highlight of the Highgate school year.”

Highgate has a long and distinguished literary tradition: the poets Nicholas Rowe (Laureate 1715-18) and Gerard Manley Hopkins were educated at Highgate, and John Betjeman was taught by T.S. Eliot in 1915. The Lyttleton Poetry Prize was established in 1978 by the Lyttleton family, who were long-term Highgate residents and friends of the school.
