Poetry By Heart 2026

Pupils from every year group at Caterham took part in our Poetry by Heart competition. Pupils first competed in class heats, followed by year group heats, before our finalists went head-to-head in the final. The English Department were thrilled to see the confidence, talent and enthusiasm pupils brought to the competition.

Pupils also competed in a new celebratory event in collaboration with East Surrey Learning Secondary Partnership schools. On National Poetry Day, Caterham was delighted to welcome finalists from St Philomena’s Girls’ School and Merstham Park School to celebrate the combined talent and creativity of our pupils. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring our schools together and hear poetry from across time resonating through Wilberforce Hall.

Thank you to the English Department, partner schools, judges, and pupils for making Poetry by Heart 2026 such a success. It was fantastic to see pupils reciting poetry with such confidence and enthusiasm, and to celebrate what seems, for many, to be a lost art.