Children's writing transforms south London buses into double deck works of literature

School children have decked out buses in London with poetryinspired by their trips on Arriva services. For the next two monthslook out for children's poetry which is displayed on all the buseswhich run from Norwood Bus Garage, including the number 2, 68, 176,249, 417 and 432.

The idea came from the Norwood Achievement Partnership, a groupof secondary and primary schools in West Norwood* and wasenthusiastically welcomed by Arriva London.

Children from partnership schools have written poetry inspiredby their local buses in classes. The results are fantasticallyimaginative (in the eyes of Edward Taylor-Jones a bus istransformed into 'An elephant thundering through a concretejungle' ), sometimes wistful (Victoria Tamlyn writes 'Icould be going to the Caribbean on a jumbo jet, Cruising with thefirst class, puffy clouds serving me golden air.... but sadly I amonly going to Sainsbury's by the 249 bus' ) or philosophical(Amy Beecher, age 11, says 'I wish this bus would take me towhere the shadows go, When there is nothing and no-one to castthem' ) and often straight from the heart (a child in year oneat Sunnyhill school simply writes 'I wish this bus was takingme to Trinidad because my granddad and his dog Jasper livethere'.)

Partnership consultant, Elizabeth Gowing, said:

The schools where the Partnership children learn arelinked by the buses which run from Norwood Bus Garage, and theMoving Poetry project has been a wonderful opportunity to celebratethese links in the children's own words. We hope they provide a fewuplifting moments in passengers' journeys on these buses over thesummer.

Arriva London's commercial support manager, Dave Jones, said ofthe project:

We are always keen to be involved in community projectswherever practical. The poems the children have written show greatimagination and prove that the bus is a great place to sit back,relax, and let your mind wander.

Ends

Notes to editors

• There is an opportunity to take photographs of some of thechildren with their poetry and an Arriva bus. Please contact KateFlint or Elizabeth Gowing if you will be attending.
• The schools involved are Crown Lane Primary School, Elm WoodPrimary School, Kingswood Primary School, Paxton Primary School,St Luke's Primary School, Sunnyhill Primary School and NorwoodSecondary School.
• Funded through the London Borough of Lambeth, the NorwoodPartnership was set up two years ago to give its schools a chanceto work together to address common issues, share good practice anddevelop a learning 'community' for teachers, school staff, familiesand – of course – children. Members of these communities learnfrom, with and about one another in a range of projects aimed at:raising standards improving transition from primary to secondaryschool, reducing barriers to learning and promoting lifelonglearning.