A PUPIL at Tilstock CE Primary School has become one of the youngest members to receive an award in a national poetry recitation competition.

Lyla, a Year 1 pupil at the school, has received a 'commended' award in the 'Poetry by Heart' competition.

Poetry by Heart is a national recitation competition for schools and colleges in England.

Pupils at Tilstock CE Primary School were challenged to choose one poem they loved, learn it off by heart and then share it aloud with their peers.

The children were encouraged to build their confidence through regular repetition and also consider how they performed the poem to best capture the attention of the audience.

Once pupils had shared their performance, the school chose a winner from each year group who received a prize reward.

Entries were then put forward to partake in the national Poetry by Heart competition.

Lyla learnt the poem 'In The Tree's Defence' by A.F. Harrold and was one of their youngest entries in the competition.

She received an award from Poetry by Heart signed by director and founder, UK Poet Laureate, and educator Julie Blake and a letter containing personal feedback from the judging team.

Rowena Kaminski, head of school said she was proud of Lyla.

"There are many great developmental benefits of poetry for children," she said.

"Poetry helps with language development, creative writing skills, self-expression and development of natural rhythms.

"Working creatively with sentence structures, helps improve writing skills, which is a big aim for us at Tilstock CE Primary School.

"Another of our aims at Tilstock is to ensure that when our pupils leave school, they are confident to stand up and speak in public and the Poetry by Heart competition has created the perfect opportunity to improve these vital speaking skills.

"This is a brilliant example of how our curriculum provides national opportunities for our pupils.

"This not only honoured Lyla's commitment, but will inspire and encourage others to keep learning poems by heart.

"Well done Lyla, we are so proud of you!"

You can view Lyla's clip at youtu.be/mjb2vTc4yAM or visit Tilstock CE Primary School's website to take a look at their other entries.