On Friday 28th June, a group of Co-op Academy Southfield students made the journey over to Manchester to take part in a Poetry Performance at The Headquarters of Co-op. They were joining students from across the Co-op Academies Trust to take part in the first Poetry Competition.

The anticipation had been building for weeks and Alfie had composed his own original poem called Guardian Angel, inspired by the address of the Co-op HQ, 1 Angel Square.

When we arrived, we took our seats and found out when we were going to be performing.

After a number of fantastic performances, it was Alfie's turn to take the stage. As he took to the stage, he calmly removed his handwritten original poem from his pocket and began reading with confidence. After the performance, the students from the other schools gave some amazing feedback about Alfie's expression, clarity and confidence.

A few more performances passed, and it was time for the students from Class 209 to take to the stage and read their class poem 'What to Wear' by Neil Zetter. Jimmi-Jack took the lead and read the poem out with confidence and clarity.

After their performance, it was time for a lunchbreak before we would return for the judges decisions. When we returned to the auditorium, the winner of the first award was announced 'Best Secondary Performance'.... Alfie!

After the rest of the awards and a fantastic trip to showcase our talents, we headed back to school.

I would like to say a massive thank you to Sue who attended the trip with us and, of course, to Alfie, Jimmi-Jack, Fauzen, Cyrus, and Brayden.

Mark Foster