Poet, Paul Cookson, visits Gateways

On Tuesday, 1 December, we were delighted to receive a visit from performance poet, Paul Cookson, who spent the day entertaining pupils and staff with his comic poetry. Mrs Sharrock, who co-ordinated the visit, said: ‘Paul spent most of the school day with us, talking to all age groups from reception children right up to pupils in Upper IV. They all responded really well to him. There was a tremendous amount of laughter and fun. He was a very relaxed and engaging performer. There was a lot of audience participation during his performance and then he took questions afterwards.’

A former teacher, Paul published his first selection of poems in 1980 and has since written fifteen collections of poetry for adults and children. Writing and performing his own work, he is a favourite on the literary festival circuit and also devotes much of his time to visiting schools and libraries. In his sessions at Gateways, the emphasis was on his humorous poems, but he also performed some of his more serious work.

Mrs Burns-Tillson, Head of English, said: ‘Paul really inspired the girls in their own writing. He gave them lots of advice on how to write poems, but also how to perform them. And for his grand finale he produced a sparkly, electric ukulele to accompany one his poems. He was absolutely brilliant. All the girls and the staff loved his visit – and he really enjoyed himself, too. He said he would like to come back and visit again. It was a really great way to launch our poetry competition which will take place on Tuesday in the Performing Arts Centre.’