On 21st May, KS3 students stepped outside the classroom to take part in a creative outdoor English lesson inspired by Benjamin Zephaniah’s Nature Trail.
Immersed in the natural environment, students crafted their own nature poems, focusing on sensory detail, ambitious vocabulary and varied sentence structures. They embraced the full writing process — drafting, editing and thoughtfully redrafting — to produce polished final pieces they could be proud of.
The experience not only developed their writing skills but also encouraged them to engage more deeply with the world around them.
Here are just a few examples of the fantastic work produced:
Year 7 Nature Poem
Outside the school grounds,
The blinding sun is gleaming on the garden,
The grass flowing through the wind.
I could feel the air wobbling with heat.
Outside the school grounds,
I can hear the noisy cars rapidly racing on the road.
I can feel the rough, irregular rocks crunching underneath my feet.
I can feel the gentle wind on my lips, making me sensitive to the heat.
Outside the school grounds,
I can hear the peaceful birds singing in the trees whilst they sway back and forth.
I can feel the lumpy bark, smooth leaves and flowing grass between my fingers.
I could smell the fumes from the deafening tractor.
Inside the school classroom,
I can smell luxurious perfume.
I can hear the pen clicking ferociously.
I can see people working, their heads down, hands going up eagerly.
Year 8 Nature Poem
Outside the school grounds,
The birds are chirping, communicating with each other.
The rain splashing down from the turquoise and grey sky.
I could smell the wind and hear it rustling through the trees.
The flowers frolic from side to side in the breeze.
Outside the school grounds,
The green trees were gesturing to each other in the brisk breeze.
The dishevelled looking flowers were trying not to freeze.
As I run my hand across the back, it felt craggy and armed.
Outside the school grounds,
There was a cold wind slamming into my hands and the feeling of rugged bark on a tree.
There was dirt that felt like sand and a precious petite bumble bee.
I could hear sheep gossiping together and twigs crunching.
I could see bird feathers and chicken’s munching.
Inside the school classroom,
Laughter and giggling filled the air as I sat on my bright red soft chair.
There is a slight outside breeze which made me sneeze.
My hay fever is high and there are some clouds in the sky.
Year 9 Nature Poem
Outside in the school garden,
The ants were scuttling up the trees with leaves in their grasp.
The sun pierced through the clouds.
The rustling of the trees began to make a sweet melody.
The wind was making the tree do a beautiful dance; it was blowing in the wind like an elegant dancer.
A piece of paper blew elegantly in the air like a theatrical dance and it slowly distanced itself until it was
out of our reach.
A kite was smiling down from an opposite tree.
There was a vibrant eco system all around, thriving.
Don’t tamper with the circle of life.
Outside in the school garden,
Shallow in the depths of countryside, urban motorways are deafening in the peace of life with only the
tweets of vibrant birds camouflaging sounds of hectic life.
Depressing weather twists vibrant nature to dull washed out trees rivalling tones of a motorway so near.
Wind shoves life around tormenting the tree into articulating each branch into a chaotic mess.
The sight of rubbish fumbling around a beautiful sense of rural landscape anguishes all desire for interest
in this once natural world; tainted by human input.
An utterly perfect world being devoured by human need for in proportional growth.