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
In Memory of ……..
Belmont Community School
Aged 15
War
Carmel RC
Aged 13
Daughter’s Hero
Belmont Community School
Aged 15
War
Carmel College
Aged 13
BOY INTO A MAN
Shotton hall Academy
Aged 13
Soldiers
Polam Hall School
Aged 10
Remember
Carmel RC College
Aged 17
Poppys in Fields of Green
Polam Hall School
Aged 10
Thousands of Rats
Polam Hall School
Aged 10
The feeling of war
Shotton Hall Academy
Aged 13
World War I
Polam Hall School
Aged 14
A Lonely Town
Belmont Community School
Aged 11
World War I
Polam Hall School
Aged 14
They thought it would never end..
Carmel College
Aged 11
The Brave Soldier
Sedgefield Community College
Aged 12
Those Inside Us
Sedgefield Community College
Aged 12
Losing Touch
Carmel College
Aged 17
Fragile Life
Carmel
Aged 16
Keeping Alive
Shotton Hall Academy
Aged 12
Friends with the world
Sedgefield Community College
Aged 12