To celebrate World Planting Day and World Poetry Day on 21 March 2022, we launched our first Poet-Tree competition.

This competition has now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry, we were overwhelmed by the quality of the work that was entered.

View the Poet-Tree competition winning entries

While you can no longer enter this competition, if you wish to share a poem you have written with the Climate Response Team, we would always be delighted to receive them. Please email poems to climatechange@medway.gov.uk.

Read the poems at your local library

All the poems submitted are currently being displayed in our libraries until Friday 10 June.

Prizes

For each category there is a winning student who will be awarded a visit from the Kent Wildlife Trust for their class, to enjoy some hands-on educational fun, sponsored by child-friendly Medway.

There is also a prize for the runner up in each category.

The overall winner of the competition will be awarded a tree for their school (or suitable alternative), alongside their Kent Wildlife Trust educational visit.

The poems were judged by:

  • a local poet, Sam Rapp (The Dyslexic Poet)
  • Councillor Howard Doe, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Services.

Eligibility

We invited all primary schools in Medway, and schools with primary age students, to use their creativity to help spread the word about climate change and inspire action in the Medway community.

The competition was open to primary school students in the following categories:

  • Year 1 and Year 2
  • Year 3 and Year 4
  • Year 5 and Year 6.

Only one poem could be submitted per student.

The poem must have had:

  • been inspired by planting or climate change, or both
  • a title
  • been a maximum of 16 lines in length, there is no minimum length
  • been the student's own original work

The poem could have been:

  • either typed or neatly handwritten
  • illustrated.

Contact

If you have any questions about the competition, email climatechange@medway.gov.uk