North Manchester Students Featured in National Poetry Publication
We’re proud to continue our partnership with First Story’s Young Writers Programme, which offers students across our Trust the chance to explore creative writing alongside professional authors. The programme connects young people to a national network of emerging writers, helping to build confidence, experiment with new styles, and strengthen their writing skills.
With the guidance of their dedicated Writer-in-Residence, students work throughout the year to create original pieces of writing. This culminates in a professionally printed anthology that they can be proud of for years to come!
This year’s Writers-in-Residence:
Mark Gwynne-Jones
A guest of BBC Radio 4’s Wondermentalist Cabaret and a favourite of Radio 3’s Late Junction.
Reece Williams
a towering presence on the northern spoken word and poetry scene.
Khadijah Ibrahiim
Artistic Director of Leeds Young Authors and the Producer of Leeds Youth poetry Slam festival.
Becky Cherriman
a Leeds-based writer, educator, performer, and facilitator.
National Poetry Day
Coming up next month is National Poetry Day. A UK-wide annual event celebrated on the first Thursday of October to encourage people to discover, enjoy and share poetry. This year, students from Co-op Academy North Manchester have had their poems published in a National Poetry Day resource from First Story.
You can read their work below – each piece a brilliant example to inspire other young writers.
Paint the Sky
by Madeline
I attach shiny, metallic rocket
thrusters
to the back of a dull, grey car,
and watch it fly away.
Mess around with physics.
Contorted faces and broken hands
of twisted, rag-doll bodies
is funny.
Cartoony.
Not realistic.
Polygons sticking through each other.
In this game engine,
it can be difficult to create,
but with friends online,
I feel happy.
Laughing.
With this game,
I am learning how to level up.
Sculpt the terrain.
Construct the buildings.
Paint the sky.
Pro Gamer
by Ahmad
In FIFA, I am blasting volleys
into the back of the net,
tangling and bamboozling
the noob with my torment.
Distract them with a diss-track
to calm myself from horrific events.
’m a Spanish-Pakistani gamer
buzzing into greatness.
I make them feel weak
like a plank of wood to a piece of stick.
I am so totally tremendous,
they touch grass and rage-quit.
I am a Pro Gamer.
I am fantastic.
Utterly terrific.
A FIFA fanatic.
National Competition Success
With over 1,000 entries, students from our Trust stood out in this year’s writing competitions – securing some fantastic wins. Renowned publishers Penguin Random House and Vintage judged the competitions and generously gifted book bundles to the talented winners.
100 Word Story Competition; First Place
by Charlie - Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent
Mission Accomplished
Nose piercing through the dense, smokey grey clouds. Wind rushing, howling over outstretched wings as the aircraft approaches the designated target, ready to drop its payload. A descent in altitude enables a clearer view of the unsuspecting world below. The bomb bay doors open, releasing its guts, pelting vehicles below with white bombs. Losing extra weight, velocity increases. Radar seekers sense the mission objective. With a tilt of its wing, flight course alters. Target locked. Pupils dilate. Heart rate increases. The subject oblivious to the carnage about to occur. Swoop. Chips stolen. Meal acquired. Mission accomplished. “Stupid seagull!”.
100 Word Story Competition; Second Place
by Ahmed - Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent
The Sky
The sky groaned under the weight of the world. It held the stars, the clouds, the dreams of those who dared to look up. It carried the sun’s fire, the moon’s quiet glow, and the endless dance of wind and storm. Below, the earth leaned on it, trusting, unthinking. But the sky was tired. One day, it wondered – what if it let go? Would the stars tumble, the clouds scatter, the world collapse? It wavered for just a moment. But then a child laughed, pointing at the sky in wonder. The sky sighed and held on a little longer.
Six Word Story Competition; Highly Commended
by Pascale - Co-op Academy Manchester
Somebody is downstairs, I live alone.
Wider Programme Highlights
Students have taken part in a range of exciting events this year.
At the Young Writers Festival in Cambridge, students enjoyed a full day of creative workshops and university tours. Co-op Academy Grange’s Zainab was selected to join the Student Panel, where she interviewed award-winning poet Steven Camden. And Co-op Academy Stoke’s Praise wowed audiences with her performance of My World, her 2024 competition-winning piece.
At the first-ever Young Writers Festival North, held in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University, students from Co-op Academy Grange and Co-op Academy North Manchester connected with author Danielle Jawando. They took part in campus tours and performance workshops, gaining valuable skills in editing and public speaking ahead of the Student Showcase final.
In Bradford, Co-op Academy Grange students teamed up with The People Powered Press to bring their poetry to life as large-scale letterpress posters. These eye-catching creations are now on public display at the National Science and Media Museum and Bradford City Library, as part of the city’s UK City of Culture celebrations.
We’re also excited to share that three students – Ahmed (Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent), Jack (Co-op Academy Leeds), and Sahid (Co-op Academy Manchester) – were selected to take part in July’s prestigious First Story Young Writers Residential at Arvon in Hebden Bridge, following a highly competitive application process!