Flint High School's Lockdown Anthology captures poignant reminder of life but not as we know it

A successful poetry project launched by the school in May to create a record of students' life experiences during lockdown, has culminated in a printed book containing more than 80 poignant poems and pieces of artwork.

Literacy coordinator Nicola Paulson originally came up with the idea of creating a Lockdown Anthology, as an opportunity for students to express their thoughts and feelings during this period.

She said: "I have been absolutely amazed by the incredible response to the project. The poems in the anthology have been written by students and staff, as well as some members of the local community, and this communication of people's thoughts and feelings, at such a challenging time, will act as a piece of social history.

"The published anthology has been very well received so far, with many finding the poems interesting and moving to read.

"Our plan is to make a food bank donation with some of the funds raised from sales of the anthology, thereby allowing writing about Covid-19 to actively help people in the local community who may have been affected by it. The power of the pen!

Above: Sarah Massey and Tayler Jones, both year 10, with copies of the new Lockdown Anthology.

"I would like to thank Mr Connelly, our headteacher, for supporting this project and enabling us to have the anthology printed so that those involved can experience the thrill of seeing their work in print. It has been so wonderful to see something positive come from such a difficult time and to raise the profile of poetry in the school in such an exciting way."

Mrs Paulson worked with Alistair Brown of Studio AB, an old school friend based in Cornwall, to design, collate and print the anthology.

He said: "It was a pleasure to work on the Lockdown Anthology. A successful book design really comes down to the quality of the content. The poems and illustrations submitted by the students were of such a high standard and it's this that has made it such a big success! Now that their thoughts on the pandemic have been collated and documented in a book format, it will forever be a valuable and heartfelt piece of history."

Over the course of the project, an art competition to design the front cover of the Lockdown Anthology was won by Emily Hayes, Year 9, and a song, Together Hand in Hand, was created using lines from a selection of the poems.

An initial quantity of 150 copies of the Lockdown Anthology has been printed, and these are available at £5 each. Copies can be bought via the School Gateway system for anyone with children in school. If you would like to purchase a copy and do not have a child at the school, please call 01352 732268 or email fhmail@flint.flintshire.sch.uk.