Junior Poetry Showcase Brings Words to Life

The youngest members of the Girls’ School filled JC Chalmers Hall with rhyme, rhythm, and plenty of personality at this year’s Poetry Showcase. Parents packed the seats, senior Preschoolers slipped in to watch, and the stage belonged to our Year 0 to 3 performers.

MC’s Charlotte Seymour and Rose McNae kept the programme moving as each class stepped up. Every poem created a moment. Whole-class recitals often brought humour and comedic timing to entertain, while brave soloists shared their own work with a true author’s passion. The youngest class’s Quick Quick Take in Your Washing! complete with fluttering props was a hit, not least because some readers had been at school barely ten weeks.

Year 3JS drew big laughs with Laurie & Dorrie. Their recount spoke of crossed wires and crossed hearing, and showed just how far expression and pause can carry a poem.

Across the board, the girls used gesture, humour, and well-placed silences to keep the audience leaning in. Head of Drama Judy Norton together with Bianca Porter have led a term-long focus on oral language, and classroom teachers polished each piece; the result was confidence well beyond the girls’ years.

For these budding poets, the showcase is the first rung on a ladder that leads to Middle and Senior School speech competitions. For everyone in the hall, it was a reminder of the sheer delight that comes when words leap off the page and into performance.