Senior School news

"We come from our individual experiences and our shared goals" - Norfolk Youth Summit brings together the Norfolk's young voices

24 March 2021

The Norfolk Youth Summit discussion kicked off yesterday with a collective poem written to address young people's views on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

The Norfolk Youth Summit is a pupil-led initiative developed to give young people across the region a forum to discuss the important issues affecting them. Pupils in Year 10 and Year 12 from Norwich School, Aylsham High School, Wymondham College, Flegg Academy, Ormiston Victory Academy, Langley School, Gresham's School and Norwich High School for Girls, joined a virtual meeting to write a collaborative poem. 

Led by author and Norwich School Head of Creative Writing, Eleanor Wasserberg, the first session focused on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Working in small discussion groups, the young pupils were tasked with contributing lines to a poem which would act as a statement for Norfolk's Youth. 

Head of School Alice Lily-Nene and Senior Prefect Dan Possener formed the Norfolk Youth Summit in response to current events and a desire to bring together and offer a forum for other young people to express their views, learn about youth activism and work together to bring about positive change. The Summit focuses on three issues, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, the Climate Crisis and Mental Health and Wellbeing. The next two discssion sessions are set to take place in the summer term. 

The pupils' writing has been turned into a collective poem, shown below. 

 

We Come From

A Collaboration Poem by members of the Norfolk Youth Summit 2021

We come from our individual experiences and our shared goals.

We come from the 97%.

We come from celebrating cultural differences. We come from a call to end racism; for equal rights for women.

We come from the belief that everyone is equal, and anger that everyone is not.

We come from being afraid. Afraid of being judged. We come from a place where our skin colour defines who we are.

 

Why should we come from a place where adjectives define who we are?

 

We come from exploring all sides of our heritage.

We come from “you can say that again”, “easy does it,” and “your guess is as good as mine.”

We come from Diwali celebrations, a picture is worth more than a thousand words, and the powerful voice of Malala.

We come from femininity, equality and hope for an equal opportunity and the unity of our community.

We come from playing in the dark, David Attenborough, and immunisation stops the spread of diseases.

 

We come from being silenced out of fear of our individual differences; we come from wanting to raise our voice and make these changes.