STUDENTS at Devizes School demonstrated their memorisation and recital skills in the school’s annual Poetry by Heart competition.

Every student in Years 7 to 9 memorised a poem and recited it to their class.

Choices included popular favourites such as Rudyard Kipling’s If, Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky and writers such as Maya Angelou and Brian Patten.

Winners were Ben Brown (Year 7), Sophie Wilson (Year 8) and Lucy Maher (Year 9).

The overall winner was Lucy Maher, whose recitation of Seamus Heaney’s poem about the death of his four-year-old brother, Mid Term Break, left many of the audience in tears.

English teacher Susanna Mountcastle said: “It was a brilliant day and the students’ performances were of a very high quality.”