Warwickshire News Mine

Thousands of entries from youngsters of all ages were submitted as part of the annual poetry festival, which was originally launched to mark the new Millennium.

Based on the theme of water, the highlights of this year’s festival have now been collected together in an anthology produced by Warwickshire County Council’s Arts Zone.

Each entry selected for publication will receive a copy of the anthology, and a copy will be placed in each school and county library across Warwickshire.

Judges selected the best poem to be ‘Shark Attack’ by Aaron Wain of Etone Community School and Technology College. Aaron, a year 11 student, composed his poem to fit the tune of Gloria Gaynor’s disco classic ‘I will survive’.

Etone is now to be presented with the Todner Trophy, by former county councillor Hughie Todner MBE. The glass globe was introduced by the Todner family to his time as chairman of the Warwickshire Millennium committee.

A special award for primary schools has also been made to Priors Field Primary School in Kenilworth.

Mr Todner said: “The 2005/6 Warwickshire Schools Poetry Festival has witnessed the greatest number of contributions ever submitted. What started as a Millennium project is now firmly established as an annual event. We would like to applaud the collective quality of poems from a number of schools.”

Schools particularly praised for their contributions since the festival began are:
Newdigate Primary School, Bedworth
St Joseph’s Catholic Junior School, Nuneaton
Nicholas Chamberlaine Technology College, Bedworth
Mappleborough Green C of E Primary School, Studley
St Benedict’s Catholic Primary School, Atherstone
Brooke Special School, Rugby

Link to WCC