Stephen Twigg with youngster James
Stephen Twigg, MP for West Derby, visited the University of Liverpool’s Children Centre to launch the `Little Beginnings’ poetry programme which aims to introduce children across all age groups to poetry.
`Little Beginnings’, funded by the Clore Duffield Foundation, aims to engage children in poetry using a range of different activities. Every quarter, a poem will be chosen and all of the children will be encouraged to make their own responses to it, using a range of media including music, words, performance and art.
Younger children will explore the poem’s rhythm and sounds using simple musical instruments and older children will be encouraged to talk about how the poem makes them feel and draw pictures and collages to represent their feelings.
Julia Rabaca, Manager of the University’s Children Centre, said: “I was delighted that Stephen Twigg, MP came to the Children’s Centre to launch our new poetry project.
“Children and poetry are a natural fit. The rhythm and language of poetry makes it perfect for reading aloud. It provides children with great enjoyment but also plays an important role in language development and learning to read. We hope that this innovative project will be the start of a lifelong relationship for the children with poetry.”
The University’s Children’s Centre, runs in partnership with Local Solutions, provides childcare for University staff and students from all over the world in addition to school holiday play scheme provision. Over 17 languages are spoken by children at the Centre and as part of this project it is hoped that parents who speak different languages will suggest poems for the children to explore, giving the project a truly international feel.
The Clore Duffield Foundation’s Poetry and Literature Awards fund initiatives for children and young people, under the age of 19, across the UK. The awards were created with the aim of providing opportunities to experience poetry and literature in exciting and compelling ways, in and out of school.
Stephen and Julia with the children