War Correspondent Delivers Masterclass

Our year 11 English learners were visited by Lindsey Hilsum, an accomplished war correspondent, for a captivating masterclass exploring her job role and supporting learners with the power and conflict poetry collection on the AQA literature paper.  
 
For AQA English Literature, students study one cluster of poems taken from the AQA poetry anthology, Poems Past and Present. There is a choice of three clusters, each containing 15 poems. The poems in each cluster are thematically linked and were written between 1789 and the present day. 
 
Lindsey is an English television journalist and writer. She currently works as the International Editor for Channel 4 News, where she has covered the major conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Kosovo, Rwanda and Ukraine in the past two decades. Lindsey is also a regular contributor to The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Guardian, New Statesman, and Granta as well as being a published author. With such a wealth of experience as a writer and reporter, as well as a personal passion for poetry, Lindsey was the perfect visitor to deliver this session. 
 
In true reporter fashion, Lindsey began the session by questioning our learners about their relationship with news. Leaners discussed where they get their news from, the validity of sources, social media as an emerging news provider and the kind of news learners are interested in reading about.  
 
Following this introductory discussion, our visitor shared how she got into this career pathway having grown up in small town and always had ambitions to travel, be somewhere else and have an adventure. She went onto study Spanish and French at university, where she had the opportunity to realise her ambition for adventure and volunteer for a year in Central America. She shared how these experiences helped her acquire the skills needed to undertake her current job role. 
 
Lindsey shared experiences from her time as a war correspondent. She discussed the role of news correspondents – to go to dangerous places and be the people's eyes and ears. Lindsey shared how this role can sometimes be a complicated one to undertake, giving the example of how this was a challenge when reporting from the trenches in Ukraine, where she was just five hundred metres from the enemy soldiers. As well as hearing stories about this experience, learners also watched the channel 4 news story of Lindsey reporting from the trenches in Ukraine.


 
On the importance of teaching war poetry on the GCSE course, Lindsey shares “War poetry can open students’ eyes not only to history, but also to what’s going on around the world today. Poetry can capture the imagination in a way straight history or watching the news may not. I remember reading war poetry when I was about 15 or 16. It stayed with me. So I hope the same is true for GCSE students today. Also I hope that reading the soldier-poets of the First World War might lead students to read contemporary poetry from countries at war such as Ukraine, Israel and Gaza or Afghanistan. And to develop an interest in all kinds of poetry.” 
 
The session was concluded with a Q&A session, where our learners prepared questions on Padlet to ask our visitor based off an article she wrote about war and the consolation of poetry. Through our learners’ questions, the class explored the relationship between poetry and war, how poetry helps Lindsey process war and what it takes to be a war correspondent. 
 
Through Lindsey’s masterclass, learners gained unparalleled insight into what war is really like, meaning the words from the poems are now rendered into striking context. Following this talk, our English learners delved straight into Wilfred Owen's poem “Exposure” with a renewed mindset and fresh interpretations. Lead Practitioner of English Kate shared, “one of the key things examiners look for is how learners can demonstrate an understanding of how the poems they read on the course still resonate in the present day. Learners were Lindsey’s powerful testimony to their interpretations of “Exposure”, showcasing the instant impact of our visitor’s masterclass.” 
 
Learner Nina echoed her teacher’s sentiments, sharing “this masterclass helped me to appreciate the soldiers and speakers in the poems because it took the experiences off of the page and them real.” 
 
Thanks to Lindsey for visiting our college and for the brave journalistic work she does. 

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