Sod it! It's me.
Check the contributions to Graham Sherwood's blog "Performance - The X Factor of Poetry" of Anthony Emmerson, Steve Mellor and MC Newberry.
The gist revolves around the failure of schools to promote poetry. Steve Mellor explains that he volunteers in his local school leading and encouraging the development of poetry.
My thoughts are
(1) deep respect to SM
(2) we winge and bleat a lot on this site about things that are wrong in society
(3) Steve provides an example of what we can actually do in one small arena which we can influence.
So,
if you want to do something about this blog your public agreement to this pledge:

I pledge that I will volunteer my services in some way to a local school to develop and promote poetry.

I pledge....John Coopey

Get ready for War and Peace - sorry

School Literacy/Poetry
Following John’s thread, and trying to have a clean start on the topic of school literacy/poetry, I thought that I’d record how I got involved – not difficult. Apologies for lengthy piece, but hopefully there will be something of use.
Any experience or points of view I have gathered along the way, have fallen into my lap, and without any planning on my behalf.
I am very well aware that there are several members of the WOL community who are closer to the practical education world, and may well be better able to advise on how the literacy problem should be best tackled.

5 years ago, and before I had even started writing or reading poetry, I found myself with a huge hole in my life, and came up with the idea of volunteering (general dogsbody/amateur teachers assistant) to help at a local Junior school. The process was relatively simple, I contacted the Head, explaining what I was offering, and what I was hoping for (nothing more than being a general help). She explained that perhaps my best qualification was that I was a man. In a school of 600 pupils, there was 1 male teacher. I would double the number of the male species. I was told that many of the children didn’t have a male role model (because of broken families). Apparently I was to become a role model. OK stop laughing!!!!

Over the next 3 years, I ‘worked’ with children in the 5 – 11 age range. I gravitated towards the classes of 10 and 11 year old pupils, finding it the most rewarding (for me), but also my approach to reading seemed to be better received by those in the latter years of Key Stage 2. With the help of a Year 5 teacher, I set up small reading groups (4 children) during school time. Everyone in the class read the same book, each taking it in turn to read a page, but they had to follow the story when not reading out loud. This seemed to raise their level of respect for each other (nobody took the mick out of others that douldn’t read as well as themselves). I acted as a human dictionary and thesaurus. Many, if not most, of the pupils were able to read the words beautifully, but didn’t understand the meaning of what they had just said. Sometimes the children nearly understood a word, but needed help in putting it into a modern context (hence the human dictionary/thesaurus). How many children, when told to ‘look it up in the dictionary’ by a teacher, do so?

One of the major benefits that I had found seemed to have come as a bi-product, and what may be key to reaching children.
For example, if I went into Class 5 on a Thursday, the kids got used to seeing me on a Thursday, and knew that they were going to read with Mr Mellor. At the beginning I think they saw it as a good way of skiving, but before long, it became apparent that they actually wanted to read with Mr Mellor. I even had the class miss a DVD being available in class, just before the Xmas hol’s, just so they could read. For me, the key is to make reading FUN, and not a chore, which is often (through no fault of the teacher) the case in order for the curriculum to be complied with.
I was pleased with the progress that the kids made, but so was the teacher, who told me that she thought the method we’d adopted (as a small group) had brought on their reading, and understanding, well past what she would have normally expected.
It was at this time that I became interested in the poetry world, and showed my teacher friend some of my poems. This ultimately resulted in having my poems read out before 3 classes of 11 year-olds, who were then encouraged, immediately thereafter, to write their own poems. Once the children became aware that poems didn’t have to have a strict rhyme or rhythm, the change was remarkable.

After 3 years at the school, a crazy edict was passed down that children could not be ‘worked’ with outside the classroom, which is what I did with all my readers (I read with the children in the school Library, adjacent to the classrooms). Can you imagine what it is like trying to listen to children reading (out loud) in a classroom whilst the rest of the class is continuing with its normal lessons.
So I left
I contacted another school, again telling them what I thought I could do, and they bit my hand off.
I have now been at this school for 18 months. I ‘work’ with 10 and 11 year old pupils, some in my preferred groups of 4; some individually (as requested by the teachers). Enjoyment is still very much part of my involvement. The children are, like my first school, annoyed if they don’t get to read. They want to show off a bit, but we discuss what they have read, and I am still a walking dictionary/thesaurus.
Introducing poetry into what I do is still difficult, which is why I had a small booklet of my non-offensive poems printed (professionally) for 50 of the pupils last year, and 25 this year, which I then gave out as Xmas presents to the kids, for them to take home. To say there response was humbling for me, is an understatement. I’m 100% positive that none of the pupils (sorry, with the exception of 1 child) had ever owned a book of poetry, and I’m not sure how many of them actually owned a book. I was given the chance to talk about the poems with the children, but it wasn’t rammed down their throats. If they wanted to talk – we talked. Some (a good percentage) tell me on a regular basis, that they still read the poems.

Conclusions (in no particular order)
• Talk to the Head about what you can do for them, and what you hope to get out of it. Help them realise that Poetry can be a massively useful tool in opening up the mind of a child, which can then be transferred into their general literacy work
• Get in to a school, even if it’s only for the odd hour or two a week
• Boys in particular seem to be in greater need of people to read with, and particularly to have men to read with,and to be seen around school
• Be prepared to have to be checked for your CRB certification (Criminal etc)
• Find the the best age-range for you to connect with
• Be prepared to have your views of teaching; teachers and children changed
• Make reading/listening to children FUN.
• Accept that you are not going to make a massive difference to the world, but even one small step forward makes it worthwhile.
• Men – be prepared to have parents wonder what an old (male) gimmer is doing at their child’s school (you will see it in their eyes)

• Be aware that you may well get more out of it than the kids do. I’m pretty sure I do.

I think it would be a great pledge for any of us to make. Don't expect to walk straight into a shcool and do poetry though...

Most teachers/schools are in need of volunteers to help listen to children read. I think you would have to have some poetry credentials before being asked to promote/study literature i.e. proof that you had done poetry workshops in school before and evidence of your success. Either that, or stick around long enough for them to trust and believe in you.

It's not all about poetry though, is it? It's also about appreciating language. Often when I read with children, we discuss the language the author has chosen to use - prompting them to hopefully use more interesting language in their own work.

Getting CRB clearance is time consuming and costly for the school. Therefore committment to help beyond a couple of weeks needs to be there.

The school I work in is quite lucky this year. It has managed to get funding from the arts council to have a professional poet go in there and do sessions with a particular year group. Someone I know from the poetry scene will also be coming in to work with a different year group. I'm really excited about it as I'll get to shadow and help him! Will let you know how it goes...

I agree wholeheartedly Isobel.
I don't think I was allowed to become involved with poetry at a school until I'd been volunteering for about 2 years, and even now I'm still only on the periphery. I don't get involved with what you might call 'teaching' poetry (a wise move on the school's behalf)
Reading, and a love of language is surely the starting point for opening a child's mind, and that's all I've ever really tried to encourage.
However, getting poets into a school, someone that the kids can look at as 'someone they know who actually writes poetry' is a big thing. As I said above, the kids at my school will still talk to me about my book of poems that they were given.

Yes - I totally agree. Most kids in key stage 2 know that I write poetry. I've also had teachers running poems by me that they aren't totally sure about. Most teachers specialise in certain areas, PE or Maths or.... poetry isn't always going to be top of the agenda for them.

I really should try to write children's poetry. My stuff just isn't suitable for children ;)

To be fair Steve, if that's another flurry- It's a fantastic book.

I can only take my hat off to those trying to take language skills and poetry to children.

I picked up a love of language and poetry despite my schooling.

Points of 'you boy' and tell me what Shelly means by 'love'
to the accompanyment of school girl giggles. Well, it could easily have been the death knell.

Chris
I took a few poems from each of my 3 books, and made a small special edition, specifically for the school.
Isobel is perhaps better place to know exactly how language is encouraged in schools, but I'm still of the mind that the hands of the teachers I come across are very firmly tied by SATS.
Do Winston and/or Julian any advice to give on the relationship between schools and poetry?

I almost forgot...

I did read poetry as an invited guest of St Marys schoo/college on the Wirral.

Both myself and the poet Ian Nenna read as part of national poetry day. We read poem to each and every year- with each group being brought in one by one across the day.

One off events certainly can be done/brought into schools. once relationships are esablished something more regular might be possible once CRB checks are all in place. But it sounds as though strictures are certainly in place.

Good luck with it Steve.