Pupils swap classroom for rail station waiting room for poetry project

Schoolchildren from Harwich swapped their classroom for a rail station waiting room as part of a poetry project.

They were taking part in ‘Words between the Lines’ which was organised by the Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership and funded by Wordsart – a group of artists who display their work at Dovercourt station – on 26 March.

The project saw the pupils, aged 8 and 9 years from Harwich Community Primary School, writing poems on the train from Harwich Town to Manningtree, and then enjoying a lesson with artist Anita Bell,who was commissioned by Wordsart, in the waiting room at Manningtree station.

They then visited The Mayflower Project at the town’s museum and finished by creating pictures which will be displayed at stations along the Mayflower line.

The pupils also recently received rail safety awareness training in school with representatives from the Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership.

Jayne Sumner said, “We also reminded the pupils about rail safety during their train journey, and the rest of the day was filled with positive and exciting experiences for all the pupils and teachers involved.”

Alan Neville, Greater Anglia’s Customer and Community Engagement Manager, said “We are very grateful to the Community Rail Partnership for doing this important rail safety work but also building links with the community by providing a really rewarding, creative and fun day out by train.”