I am an experienced workshop leader, across Key Stages One, Two, Three and Four, as well as adult groups.
Workshops range from 60 minutes to longer projects that take place over a number of weeks. Thematically, the workshop is usually led by the students. However, I am happy to accommodate any relevant themes relating to syllabus or coursework.
As a live poet, I am very conscious of the crossover between poetry and other areas of the performing arts. In particular: comedy, theatre and film. This cross-platform approach is equally reflected in my teaching practice. The end product of my more traditional workshops is usually an anthology of writing, and/or a live performance of the finished material. However, many of my larger teaching assignments have been based on ‘Mantle of the Expert’ projects, requiring the class to combine poetry with other dynamic elements, such as short films, a rap concert, or the treatment for a new video game.
My experience as a creative writing practitioner spans from Reception class to workshops with professional adult poets. I have worked with high ability classes such as Gifted and Talented pupils, to extremely mixed ability classes, such as prisoners at HMP Walton. I have worked with Creative Partnerships (Norfolk), Activate (Merseyside), The Windows Project (Merseyside) and Apples and Snakes (Cornwall). This summer I wrote the full time, four-week Creative Writing syllabus for The Oxbridge Tradition, a New York-based agency that runs a network of academic summer schools across Europe.
I have a one-hour powerpoint presentation, aimed at young adults with an interest in performance poetry. Find out more here
To download a copy of my poetry CV, click here
“I was extremely impressed by the ease at which Ross handled the pupils…I would not hesitate to work with him again.”
-A C. Hill, Walkden High, Liverpool
“Universal acclaim for the poets was heard loud and true for many days after you left. You have become a particular favourite among the English department, and if you haven’t already been invited back, I should like to make an early bid for your appearance at next year’s festival.”
-Martin Hitchcock, Beyond Words festival, UCS London
Examples of my poetry (for schools)
To watch me on the BBC Schools website, reciting ‘Matilda’ by Hilaire Beloc, click here
My Shoes Are In Love
Written for ages 7+
How Many Metaphors Does It Take To Ruin A Birthday Party?
Written for ages 10+
My surprise party
was an accident waiting to happen,
like booking a nosebleed
or calling on a house
bamboozled with faulty wiring.
I volunteered myself
for electrocution
and flicked on the light in my lounge.
Surprise, they said.
They looked like muggers.
Muggers with conical hats.
My Dad threatened me with a party popper.
“You’re never too old to party,” he said.
Each birthday card
was a thinly veiled ransom demand:
AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT
DEPOSIT ONE YEAR
IN THE BIN BEHIND YOUR HOUSE.
TELL NO-ONE.
NO FUNNY BUSINESS.
My presents got worse every year:
a case of mistaken identity,
a joke missing its punchline,
a giant paperweight,
a fart in a lift…
Until eventually, after years of sulking
my birthday became nothing more than an ancient superstition
held by a tribe of villagers, who, once a year,
would tie a goat to a pole and cover it in hot sauce
without knowing exactly where this tradition had come from.
And I would watch them from the forest
Wondering if the goat was for me
Or just an incredible co-incidence.
Portrait of the Yeti as a Young Man
Written for ages 14+
If Life Was A Video-Game, Here’s Some Secret Stars You Might Have Missed
Written for ages 8+
OK, so it looks like you missed
all those bonuses we hid
beneath the seats of hovercrafts.
And there was an extra life
in the butter compartment of your fridge,
But you never got around to opening that.
You know, we hid enough powerups
to elevate you to the transformational polar heights
of the highscore table
in a camping shop in Clacton,
But you decided to skip that level altogether.
Not a good start.
Still, it looks like you found the one in your cereal,
The one in the piano, the one in the plantpot.
And you did pick-up some hard-to reach stars
on the balconies of hotels and the novels
of Dostoevsky. Those places
certainly aren’t easy to get to. But
remember the park, January 3rd, 2010, at seven a.m.
That hour when nobody’s clothes seemed to fit,
When the world seemed so impossibly far away
that you felt like an enemy in someone else’s game?
If you’d just searched for something other than words…
There was a cavern of stars beneath the frost.
You’d have heard that sound the universe makes
when a brand new piece of it is unlocked.
With its bonus rounds like shantytowns beyond the city limits.
Don’t worry. You did good. I know you’re in it to win it, but
no one gets 100%. There’s no hack to get back to the stuff that you missed:
Keys you should have picked up; people you should have kissed.
I mean, you could start over: easy, medium, hard…
But the stars will have moved from the last game you fought through,
This ain’t much of a galaxy, but it’s yours, chief.
Better to follow what you’ve got
Than live life like a walkthrough.