Hymn Competition

I was first inspired to write the lyrics to the school hymn because it gave me an opportunity to leave my mark on the school by doing something that I love: writing poetry. When the competition was launched I had been entering poetry competitions from a fairly young age and had always enjoyed writing in my spare time. I also wanted to enter the competition because the thought that my words would be put to music by the renowned composer Sasha Johnson-Manning was very exciting!

The brief of the competition was to create a piece of poetry that expressed the school as a whole, that included the school’s motto ‘Fortiter Fideliter Feliciter’ and its English translation ‘Bravely Faithfully Cheerfully’, and that expressed a belief in God. And so, with high hopes and a head full of ideas, I began to write what would be the winning entry of the competition.

I was extremely proud of myself when I was announced as the winner, but the initial pride that I felt having won the competition was nothing compared with the pride I felt when I heard my words sung by hundreds of people in the Bridgewater Hall. The music that my words were put to was absolutely perfect, and as I sang the rousing chorus with the choirs and audience I really felt on top of the world.

Congratulations also to the runners up of the competition: Caitlin Jones and Sara Rasul.

Hannah Shakespeare