STUDENTS and staff at Studley High School have been scribbling during lockdown to capture these strange times in poetry.

The school launched a poetry competition called Lines Under Lockdown for students to get creative and capture their experiences and feelings about the Covid-19 pandemic, while also keeping students connected while the school is closed.

The poems will be collected in an anthology to celebrate the student's work and as a permanent record of lockdown life.

Amy Page, deputy head teacher at the school, said: “We were delighted to receive so many entries for the poetry competition and the quality of writing was impressive. Our students have been working very hard in online classrooms since the school was forced to close, but so many of them also embraced this opportunity to write and reflect on their experiences of lockdown.

"We know how important creative thinking is for our well-being, particularly in these challenging times. This competition has provided our young people with an opportunity to express themselves, to regain a sense of community and feel connected when we have been physically separated for so long, which is so important to us at Studley High School.”

The poems explored how the world has changed in a matter of months and celebrated the key workers during the pandemic.

Winning poets included Jacob Tagg in the Year 7/8 category for his rap poem When The World Stopped Spinning and Elyssa Hazelton in the Year 9/10 category for I'm Free.

Mrs Harris took home the award in the staff and family category for her poem Zooming Brilliant on the joy of video calling family who are separated.