Poem for Icknield Infant School's 60th Anniversary

Last week I spent a lovely couple of days visiting classes at Icknield Infant and Nursery School in Hertfordshire, helping Years 1 and 2 write poems to celebrate the school's 60th anniversary. With Year 2 I got them to imagine what the school of the future might be like. The future, I think, is a great concept to inspire children's imaginations, since by its very nature there is no right or wrong answer. The children accordingly produced some extremely imaginative, often very funny work.

When a school books me to work on a specific theme, I try to write that school a special poem on the theme. Here, then, is the poem that I shared with the Year 2 children in order to stimulate their writing:

The School of the Future

In the school of the future

we’ll read books written by laser beams

zapped onto dazzling slabs of emerald.

In the school of the future

the world’s best chefs will download dinner

directly into our stomachs.

In the school of the future

all exams will take the form

of video game tournaments.

In the school of the future

lessons will start on the stroke

of midnight.

In the school of the future

every child will sit next to

their very own farm animal.

In the school of the future

all teachers will be replaced

by zombies.

In the school of the future

everyone will love each other

like their own family.