Six-year-old Alexandra Prideaux, a pupil at Yarm School, has rhymed her way to the top, securing publication for the second year running in the Terry Kelly Poetry Prize Anthology.
Alex’s poem ‘I Love School’, was shortlisted for the top prize and only narrowly missed out, despite her being the competition’s youngest entrant.
The Terry Kelly Poetry Prize celebrates the life of Terry Kelly, a respected journalist and writer. The prize, set up by his family, encourages young people across the North East to develop a love of poetry.
Several of Alex’s poems have previously been published. ‘Swimming’ was featured in two anthologies last year and also features on the iRead educational software distributed to hundreds of schools around the UK and the EU by University College London.
She was also recognised in The Wicked Young Writer Awards, which recognise excellence in writing, encourage creativity, and help develop writing talent in young people between 5-25 years old from across the UK. Since the launch in 2010, they have received over 20,000 entries.
Two more of her poems, ‘Under the Sea’ and ‘Springing Squirrel’, have been shared online by the publisher ‘Little Poems’ and are available to read on the internet.
Alexandra Prideaux, said: “I’m very happy to have had my work published, I feel very proud. I really love writing poetry and I get lots of encouragement from my teachers at Yarm School.”
Joanne Speight, Pre-Prep Coordinator at Yarm School, said: “What a fantastic achievement!
“We’re incredibly proud of Alex and her wonderful poems. Alex has always had a creative literary spark and we’re delighted this has been recognised by the judges at the Terry Kell Poetry Prize 2019.”
I Love School – Alexandra Prideaux
My teachers, clubs,
Teddington the class bear.
Dolls and books, craft,
my friends. Curly haired
girl and I
play outside.
The Rabbit Game – hop!
Mums and Dads – pretending –
Running, bell rings – stop!
“Pre Prep line up”, playtime ending.
Choosing to play on computers –
Purple Mash!
Making models,
French and PE –
jumping on crash
mats. Uniform,
cozy and warm
jumper. Show and tell.
Cooking, sport, dressing up,
listening to shells.
Certificates in assembly,
lunchtime ballet,
movie night, reading.
What will I do today?