Christian Foley Runs Rap Quotation Workshops with Year 10

On Wednesday 14th January, poet, author, and educator Christian Foley delivered a series of workshops to Year 10 students.

A published writer and editor, Christian Foley is known for integrating poetry and rap into educational settings, working with young people nationally and internationally in schools. He has performed his poetry on BBC Radio and at various literary festivals.

The aim of the workshops, which were based on poems from GCSE English literature, was to help students to memorise quotations by writing raps; these memorisation skills are transferrable to the rest of the curriculum.

Students wrote modernised remixes of the poems, integrating key quotations from the original poems.

Year 10 student Benji said: “I really enjoyed how interactive Christian Foley was with the class.”

“The best thing was when he got us to write our own raps,” added Harry. “It helped us to memorise quotes, and it was really fun!”

Christian is currently undertaking a PhD at Goldsmiths University in Hip Hop and Spoken Word Education.

In 2017, he was shortlisted for the Ruth Rendell Award, which honours writers who have made significant contributions to literacy in the UK.