The Northern Echo's Schools' Poetry Competition

The Northern Echo appealed to all secondary schools in the region to get involved and to get their pupils writing a poem to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

The war inspired some of the greatest poems in the English language and it was the current generation's turn to put their thoughts and feelings in words.

The winner, 14-year-old Olivia Skilbeck was chosen by a panel of experts and received the latest iPad. The top ten poems were included in a special edition of The Northern Echo published on Remembrance Sunday – November 9.

Click here to read Olivia's poem, Blood on the Battlefield, along with work by the other finalists.

The competition, which is now closed to entries received a huge response from schools across the region and you can read their poems below.

Click on the title to read the full poem

World War 1

By Jasmine Tomlinson
Parkside Academy
Aged 12

World War 1

By Jasmine Tomlinson
Parkside academy
Aged 12

When the Hours Went By

By Evan Plews
Greenfield Community and Arts College
Aged 11

The Bullet Hit!

By Scott Gibbs
The Academy at Shotton Hall
Aged 15

I would give my life

By Laeton Stephens 8A
Parkside Academy Wilington
Aged 12

Death in the fields

By Connor McNeill
Parkside accademy
Aged 11

Trench

By Amelia Wilkinson
Parkside Academy
Aged 12

Trench

By Amelia Wilkinson
Parkside Academy
Aged 12

I wonder? I wonder? Whats happening yonder?

By Sam Nixon
Parkside Academy
Aged 11

My Father

By Alexis Banks
Greenfield Community and Arts College
Aged 11

This Is He

By Teagan Pigford
Greenfield Community and Arts College
Aged 11

A Bird Without A Wing

By William Bainbridge
Parkside Academy
Aged 12

Thousands

By Sarah Dixon
Greenfield Community and Arts College
Aged 11

11th November 1918

By Bailey Metcalfe
Greenfield Community and Arts College
Aged 11

Bayonets Dripped With Blood

By Maisy Swires
Greenfield Community and Arts College
Aged 11

Three Acrostics

By Lewis Wilson
Greenfield Community and Arts College
Aged 11

The sky

By Chloe Thompson
Parkside Academy
Aged 12

War Has Begun

By Euan Scott
Greenfield Community and Arts College
Aged 11

The Messenger of the Skies

By Kurtis Topping
Greenfield Community and Arts College
Aged 11

British Soldier

By Olivia Hymers-Race
Greenfield Community and Arts College
Aged 11