PUPILS in Year 5 at Herne View Church of England Primary School, Ilminster took part in a Never Such Innocence poetry workshop with local poet Clive Sanders.

Never Such Innocence provides tools for children and young people to reflect on the realities of war and conflict and aims to amplify the voices of children and young people all over the world.

This year's Never Such Innocence Poetry Competition focuses on the theme "How Can We Prevent Future Wars?".

Clive was delighted with the poems the children wrote, and they are now being finalised before being sent off for the competition.

For the children, this provided an opportunity to extend their creative writing skills.

One student called Kez said: “I enjoyed the way the session pushed me to think of interesting vocabulary.”

Lucas, another student added: “The poetry session was good because it inspired me.”

An example of one of the poems created in the workshop by the students is this poem by Archie, age 9.

The Man of War and Death

Remember those who have fallen

Everyone Is in despair 

Make peace in the world please no more bombing 

Every soldier  is in pain 

Make a more stress free world

Be respectful for others especially the soldiers

End all war in the world

Rebuild harmony and happiness please

Claire Oaten, Headteacher said: “As a school, Never Such Innocence fits within our core values of care, respect and friendship and our thanks go to Clive Sanders for visiting the school and to our English Leads, Phoebe Swinson and Emmalouise West for co-ordinating the visit. Our children were truly inspired and motivated to use the written word to share a message of peace and tolerance.”