CBA was thrilled to welcome Poet Dreadlock Alien, who delivered some incredible workshops to our Year 9 and Year 10 cohorts as well as collaborating with a smaller Year 7 group to create some beautiful poetry in honour of Remembrance Day.

Dreadlock Alien, also known as Richard Grant, is a performance poet who frequently visits schools and this was his first visit to CBA. Dreadlock works with students to help prepare them for their GCSE’s by exploring themes of the syllabus poems and equipping them with memory techniques and micro-quotations to aid them in their exams.

Dreadlock started the day by working closely with a select group of our Year 7 students in the library. Dreadlock performed some of his poetry to them to kick off the session and then tasked them with creating their own work, using keywords that they had mind mapped based on the theme ‘war’. Students were then asked to collaborate in small groups and perform their combined poems to the rest of the group. It was brilliant to see these particular students grow with confidence throughout the session and then be brave enough to perform in front of an audience.

The Year 10 workshop was particularly engaging as Dreadlock’s focus was on themes of power and conflict and he asked all the English teachers to get involved and explain and discuss their favourite poems that they will be studying. Students really enjoyed the session and it has provided the perfect introduction to poetry, getting them ready for the year ahead.

It was fantastic to see our Year 9 students engage fully with their session towards the end of the day. They were particularly impressed when Dreadlock free-styled his way through the register, adding in all their teachers names as well as some great alliteration and hilarious rhymes.

Dreadlock said ‘Mass engagement is my speciality, working with an entire year group to transform perceptions, I always begin and end with the question ‘Who thinks poetry is boring?’. Every hand goes up at the start, and by the end, not a single one remains raised.

“My favourite poem is ‘Checking out Me History’ by John Agard, which addresses black history and protest. It’s a captivating piece that truly comes alive when preformed. It’s about infusing words and emotions with vibrancy and not being afraid of poetry. Poets play with language for a living, and every student can connect with a poem if they dig deep enough.”

We can’t wait to welcome Dreadlock Alien back in the future!