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Posted on May 25th 2023
Young City Poets Explore Tower Bridge
Ms Morris and Ms Houssein took a group of Year 8 students to Tower Bridge recently.
In the morning, students went on a guided tour around Tower Bridge. During the tour, they learnt about the science behind the pump room, explored the stories of the people who made Tower Bridge and discovered information about the historical context of this legendary landmark. Thank you to Nat and David from Tower Bridge for being such knowledgeable guides!
Students and staff had a wonderful lunch time picnic at Queen’s Walk and were lucky enough to see the bridge raise its bascules.
After lunch, students explored a range of resources from the Tower Bridge archives and began developing ideas for their poems.
Nabiha had a fabulous time and said, ‘It was really British day: a sunny picnic next to Tower Bridge and London Bridge!’
Nma really enjoyed learning about the history of the bridge and was fascinated by Albert Gunter, the London bus driver who jumped the bridge in a 78 double decker bus in 1952!
Lakhisa was nervous about the glass walkway at the top of the bridge to begin with but in the end she said, “The glass walk way was my favourite part. It felt really safe and you could see everything!”.
This event was arranged by The National Literacy Trust as part of their ‘Young City Poets’ programme. As part of the project, the students have learnt the conventions of a dramatic monologue and will use their experience at Tower Bridge to create their own poems from the perspective of this London landmark.
The final part of the project will be an author visit from Thembe Mvula who will run a poetry writing workshop at HAB to help students develop their creative writing skills.
