Frith Manor Eisteddfod
Audio performances from the First Frith Manor Eisteddfod 2022
Frith Manor will be holding its very first Eisteddfod - a festival to celebrate the recital and performance of poetry from memory - on March 22nd 2022.
What is an Eisteddfod?
Eisteddfod is a Welsh word for a festival of poetry (and other arts). The name comes from the tradition of awarding a chair to the person who writes the prize-winning poem. So at an Eisteddfod, the winning poet takes part in a ceremony at which they sit on the chair that they will then take home.
At the Frith Manor Eisteddfod, we will have a real oak chair from an Eisteddfod in London in 1950 - 72 years ago. This chair is carved with the words Eisteddfod Llundain 1950 which means the London Eisteddfod of 1950. This chair was won by Mr Thomas's grandad who won 13 chairs in total over the years for writing stories and poems and we will have this chair in school to use in a ceremony to celebrate the best performances of poetry at our Frith Manor Eisteddfod. (We cannot give the chair away as a prize because it is precious to Mr Thomas and his family! But there will be prizes.)
Every class from EYFS to Y6 is invited to memorise a poem and perform it to the school. Teachers are choosing this poem and you will soon start to learn it and to devise a way to perform it. We will film our best performances and enter them into a competition run by Poetry By Heart. The prizes of this competition are to be invited to perform on the stage of The Globe Theatre in London.
Watch some performances for inspiration HERE.
THE POETRY COMPETITIONS
There are 3 categories of poetry recitation competition in our Eisteddfod.
Class Performances - The 1-poem celebration - For EYFS, KS1 and KS2
Next half term, every class in KS1, KS2 and EYFS will learn a different poem (each one chosen from the Poetry By Heart website for KS2 - LINK) ready to perform it together as a class at our Eisteddfod in March. Children will learn to recite the poem by heart and will work together to create an original performance - anything goes as long as the poem is out loud and by heart. This will be done at school.
Classes could use one of the following performance options:
• Choral performance with multiple voices assigned to different parts
• Performance that uses image and sound alongside the spoken voice
• Animation, dramatization, mime or dance alongside the spoken voice
• Performance in a setting related to the poem or with a musical instrument
Three recitals will be chosen to be recorded and entered into the Poetry By Heart Freestyle competition
Individual (Solo) Performances - The 2 Poem National Championship - For KS2
Why not explore the Poetry By Heart KS2 timeline (LINK) - a list of poems organised in the order they were written, starting from as far back as 1595 to poems published in 2019. You could choose your favourite poems and learn them just for fun. Or you could choose two poems to learn and recite and enter the Poetry by Heart Classic 2-poem National Championship. Click on the link below to the performance gallery to see some past finalists' performances.
Poetry By Heart Classic 2-poem National Championship - solo performances
Learn two poems from the Poetry By Heart website – one published in or after 1914, and one from before 1914. It’s a solo competition for individuals performing in a simple, classic style – just you, your chosen poems and your voice. National Championship judging focuses on voice, understanding, performance and accuracy.
Small Group - 1-poem celebration - Showcase For EYFS, KS1 and KS2
Another option to think about is to memorise and develop a freestyle performance for a poem in a pair or small group. You can choose any poem. This could be a poem you have written yourselves, or a poem written in another language, or a much-loved poem from any other source including web collections available at CLPE’s Poetry page, Children’s Poetry Archive or Poetry Society .
You could use the following performance options:
• Choral performance with multiple voices assigned to different parts
• Performance that uses image and sound alongside the spoken voice
• Animation, dramatization, mime or dance alongside the spoken voice
• Performance in a setting related to the poem or with a musical instrument
We hope that you have fun preparing for the Eisteddfod and we very much look forward to celebrating poetry and performances together in March.
