Discovering, celebrating, and publishing the next generation of youth poets
Spoken Word Power is a fully funded, spoken word poetry programme for primary, secondary and SEND schools in London, taking students from writing their first poem through to performing on the West End stage. 

“My students have gained confidence no end!” – Teacher from Canons High

“This opportunity really gave us the chance to see other areas in which our children can excel, which I don’t think the core subjects always do. It was quite emotional…” – Teacher from Stanhope Primary School

Applications Open Summer 2026

Your Spoken Word Power Journey

Kickstart your Spoken Word Power journey with an introduction to the project with the Eastside Schools team as well as an interactive creative workshop led by Spoken Word Power Lead Artist and renowned poet and educator, Jacob Sam La Rose. This session will take place in Autumn 2, and will explore our annual theme, as well as creative ways to embed poetry and spoken word into your teaching.
Meet online with your Poet in Residence and an Eastside team member ahead of workshop delivery, to introduce your school, discuss the needs of the student’s taking part, and what you’re hoping to gain from the programme.
In the Spring term, your Poet in Residence will deliver 5x interactive spoken word poetry workshops with each of your participating classes. Your students will be taken on a creative journey, from idea generation, to editing, refining and eventually performing their work aloud to an audience! Students can work independently or in small groups.
Join us for a second CPD session in the Spring term, to explore how to develop student’s oracy and performance skills, ahead of your in-school slam. Learn practical and engaging techniques to use in your classroom to empower students to express themselves with confidence and clarity.
Showcase your student’s work and achievements to your school community by hosting an in-school poetry slam, hosted by your Poet in Residence! You will receive guidance and resources from Eastside to help you achieve this.
To celebrate World Poetry Day, all participating students are invited to attend an inter-school sharing event at a West End Theatre! Selected students from each class will perform their original work to represent your school, alongside other students and professional poets
All poems performed at the sharing event will be published in our annual anthology, which will be shared with your school in the summer term, to take pride of place in your library or classrooms!
Continue the legacy of Spoken Word Power by using our free resources to embed spoken word poetry and creative teaching into your curriculum. Sign up to our sister online programme Spoken Word Power Live (link) to find out how to make use of these!

TEACHER CPD SESSION

Kickstart your journey with an interactive creative workshop led by renowned poet and educator, Jacob Sam La Rose. This session will take place in Autumn 2, and will explore creative ways to embed poetry and spoken word into your teaching.

STEP ONE

CREATIVE PLANNING MEETING

Meet online with your Poet in Residence and an Eastside team member ahead of workshop delivery, to introduce your school, discuss the needs of the student’s taking part, and what you’re hoping to gain from the programme.

STEP TWO

5X IN-SCHOOL WORKSHOPS

In the Spring term, your Poet in Residence will deliver 5x interactive spoken word poetry workshops with each participating class. Your students will explore idea generation, editing, and performance skills, and can work independently or in small groups.

STEP THREE

TEACHER CPD SESSION

Join us for a second CPD session in Spring 1, to explore how to develop student’s self confidence, oracy and performance skills, ahead of your in-school slam.

STEP FOUR

HOST YOUR SLAM

Showcase your student’s work and achievements to your school community by hosting an in-school poetry slam, hosted by your Poet in Residence! You will receive guidance and resources from Eastside to help you achieve this.

STEP FIVE

PERFORM ON THE WEST END

To celebrate World Poetry Day, participating classes are invited to attend an inter-school sharing event at a West End Theatre! Selected students from each class will represent your school by performing their work on stage, alongside other students and professional poets.

STEP SIX

BECOME A PUBLISHED POET

All poems performed at the sharing event will be published in our annual anthology, which will be shared with your school in the summer term, to take pride of place in your library or classrooms!
STEP SEVEN

EMBEDDING SPOKEN WORD IN YOUR SCHOOL

Continue the legacy of Spoken Word Power by using our free resources to embed spoken word poetry in your curriculum. Sign up to our sister online programme Spoken Word Power Live to find out how to make use of these!

STEP EIGHT

Frequently Asked Questions

Spoken Word Power is a fully funded programme, generously supported by John Lyons Charity and The Portal Trust. We ask schools to pay a one-off commitment fee of £120 per participating class, for which there are bursaries available for schools that need it.

This programme includes 1x online Creative Planning Meeting with your Poet in Residence ahead of workshop delivery, 2x Teacher CPD sessions (typically 4-6pm but can vary), 5x half day workshops per class, 1 in-school poetry slam and a trip to the West End.

Schools can apply for 1-3 classes to take part, with up to 30 students per class.

We work with talented SEND practitioners and poets, who are able to adapt the programme material and resources to suit a wide variety of access and learning needs. This programme has been successfully delivered in a variety of alternative education settings, and we welcome alternative modes of speaking and writing, e.g. communication aids, sign language and scribing.

For SEND schools, we will arrange an on-site Creative Planning Meeting ahead of workshop delivery, so you can introduce your poet in residence to your setting and some of the students they might be working with in advance.

Mixed age groups are welcome in any school, especially if they are being selected because they will enjoy and benefit from the programme. However, we recommend a group of no bigger than 20 if the students don’t usually work together. 

State or free primary, secondary and SEND schools located in one of the following boroughs: Barnet, Brent, Camden, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Kensington & Chelsea, Lambeth and the Cities of London and Westminster are eligible to apply to take part in Spoken Word Power.

Any school who has taken part in Spoken Word Power before is welcome to reapply, but we will prioritise schools that haven’t taken part before.

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