Apparently schools aren’t doing poetry properly these days. Presumably this fits in with the decline in English language generally…
Classic poems are in danger of disappearing from the classroom as poorly trained teachers rely on “lightweight” verse, the education watchdog warn today.
Primary schools increasingly concentrate on nonsense and humorous poems or those that are easy for children to imitate, says Ofsted.
In a report, inspectors warn that “too few” poems are “genuinely challenging” as teachers shun the classics and those from other cultures.
I attended primary school in the late sixties. While there, I was force fed a diet of Wordsworth, T.S. Eliot, Browning, Blake, Shelley and John Masefield. Initially, I was reluctant, but my teachers recognised in me something that I did not; a latent love of verse. Sea Fever remains an eternal favourite even today.
So, if Ofsted’s report is right, it’s a crying shame.