Poems for Remembrance workshop for pupils aged 7 to 9

Introducing Poems for Remembrance 2026

Join us and our partners the Royal British Legion as we mark the week of National Poetry Day through our live event with poet and author Alan "Kurly" McGeachie, aka @memorhyme. Be the first to share in an exclusive first look at his brand-new poem, written just for your pupils, reflecting on what Remembrance means today.

About this event

Date: Tuesday 29 September

Time: 9.30am

Duration: 45 minutes

Recommended for: pupils aged 7 to 9 years (Lower KS2 Years 3 and 4, P4/P5).

In this thought-provoking and creative live event your class, together with pupils from across the UK, will meet poet Alan "Kurly" McGeachie and listen as he shares the very first reading of his new poem. Pupils will be guided to explore and reflect on different poetry techniques and the theme of Remembrance, which leads on to crafting their own Remembrance poetry. The workshop will conclude with a live Q&A session.

Download resources for the event

To help you mark National Poetry Day, the National Literacy Trust, in partnership with Royal British Legion, has created a learning sequence which supports teachers in further exploring Remembrance poetry and motivates pupils to write their own poetry inspired by Remembrance and poet Alan "Kurly" McGeachie.

Resources will be available to download from our Remembrance resource page from the week commencing 31 August.

Preparation

Preparation for pupils

To ensure your pupils are ready to participate in the live workshop, please make sure they have the following:

• A poetry journal (this can be a new notebook dedicated to poetry writing or a simple journal created by folding pieces of paper together).
• A pen or pencil.

Preparation for teachers

We recognise that teaching a topic like Remembrance can sometimes feel complex. One challenge can be helping young people feel that Remembrance is part of our present, as well as our past. To help pupils connect meaningfully with what Remembrance is today, we're using new content like modern service stories, encouraging a more contemporary and reflective understanding of the service that keeps us safe.

To support you, we have created a short video with poet and author Alan "Kurly" McGeachie, How to Teach Remembrance, which will be shared ahead of the event. This resource is designed to help you deliver meaningful Remembrance messages and deepen pupils’ understanding within your classroom.

Joining the event

Participation is free - please sign up on the form below to register attendance and we'll email confirmation of your booking, and a link to join us on Zoom.

Please check your email - including your junk mail folder - for your confirmation message. For queries, email membership@literacytrust.org.uk

Please note: The event is a live Zoom webinar which means your class/group will not appear on screen, but will be able to interact with the event panellists by typing questions into the live chat.

Joining live on Zoom is the best way to experience the workshop, however, we'll also be live-streaming the event on YouTube if you have any technical problems accessing Zoom.

In addition, we'll be recording the session, so even if you'd like to participate, but are not certain that you can join us live, please sign up and we'll let you know how to access the recording after the workshop has taken place.