| 1. |
Poetry FOR LifeTM is an initiative by a group of South Africans inspired by poetry enthusiasts in other countries who have started a drive to revive the ancient art of learning and reciting poetry. |
| 2. |
In the past few years, passionate people in the USA, Canada, Ireland and England have each introduced national poetry-speaking competitions, held annually and culminating in an international competition between the participating countries. In each country the poetry competition is run under a different name, but the objective is the same - to encourage senior school students to learn and deliver poetry. |
| 3. |
Inspired by this, Cambridge University and the Commonwealth Education Trust, in conjunction with the South African Poetry Project (ZAPP) have created Poetry FOR LifeTM in South Africa. It is hoped that this will become an annual national competition, open to Grade 10 to 12 learners taking English HL and FAL across the country. |
| 4. |
The competition will comprise of two sections, and each competitor will be required to learn and recite two poems from a list of poems chosen by the organisers. For 2015 there are 55 international English poems from the list used by the poetry programme in England and 56 South African poems, selected by ZAPP (see attached annexure for programme details, the list of poems and an entry form). |
| 5. |
All schools are encouraged to register and participate in this exciting competition. |
| 6. |
Kindly bring the content of this minute to the attention of the teachers concerned. |
SIGNED: BK SCHREUDER
DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL: CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT MANAGEMENT
DATE: 2015:01:16
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