During the last two weeks before half term, all classes at Manor Leas Junior Academy (MLJA) combined poetry and music to bring back some of the ‘lost words’ from the Oxford Junior Dictionary.

The project was inspired by the beautifully illustrated anthology, ‘The Lost Words: A Spell Book’ written by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris.  Each poem is a spell written in the hope to summon lost nature words back into the vocabulary of British children. 

During the project, each class at MLJA studied a lost nature word, no longer included in the Oxford Junior Dictionary, including Bluebell, Conker, Adder, Acorn, Heron and Willow.  They wrote their own poems or ‘spells’ so the words would not be lost forever. 

As well as poetry, each class used GarageBand to compose their own Spell Song to accompany their spells.  At the end of the project, each year group across MLJA celebrated their poetry and music in a performance to parents.

“The way the children at our school have embraced this important project has been inspiring, giving me hope that even though the nature words no longer feature in the Oxford Junior Dictionary, they will not be forgotten at our school.”  Mrs Tyas (Year 4 Teacher)