Having already made it through several hotly contested rounds to get to the final, the 24 boys represented an incredibly high standard across all Year groups.

Guest judge, Dr Alex Latter, Head of English at Winchester College, had the hard job of choosing five age group winners. After some sterling performances, some of which were the boys' own compositions, and much deliberation, Dr Latter announced his winners: Tristan (VIs), Felix (IVs), Angus (IIIs), Orlando (IIs) and Thomas (Is) who was also awarded the Poetry Cup for his recitation of 'The ABC' by Spike Milligan.

Poetry Finalists included:

VIs

Edward - Us Two by A.A. Milne

Tristan - Ten Dancing Dinosaurs by John Foster

Raphael - Bed in Summer by Robert Louis Stevenson

Arthur - Excuses by Allan Ahlberg

IVs

Bear - Mr Bear by Steven Camden

Fergus - Smaller Ones Are Better by A.F. Harrold

Felix - Macavity by T.S. Eliot

IIIs

Max - Skeletons by Debbie Grenier

Xandi - George by Hilaire Belloc

Rory - The Fisherman by Abbie Farwell Brown

Henry - Winter by William Shakespeare

Angus - The True Meaning of Life by Pat Fleming

Oliver - My Teacher Wasn't Half As Bad As Yours Seems To Be by Roald Dahl

IIs

Leo - The Colour of My Dreams by Peter Dickson

Misha - Reality (own composition)

Jaey - A Tribute to Flanders (own composition)

Leo - Greedy Guts by Joshua Seagal

Orlando - The Great Realisation by Tom Roberts

Is

Marcos - It Couldn't Be Done by Edgar Guest

Theodore - Lockdown (own composition)

Ludovic - What Life Should Be by Pat Fleming

Jake - When This is Over by Laura Kelly Fennucci

Freddie - Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

Thomas - The ABC by Spike Milligan

The boys were all congratulated for having the courage to stand before their peers, for committing totally to their performances and for those who struggled, composed themselves and tried again. Well done to one and all.

For more photos of all the finalists please click here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/HMxJ7ejn6AnupR5r7