Press releases

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

The idea came from the Norwood Achievement Partnership, a group of secondary and primary schools in West Norwood* and was enthusiastically welcomed by Arriva London.

Children from partnership schools have written poetry inspired by their local buses in classes. The results are fantastically imaginative (in the eyes of Edward Taylor-Jones a bus is transformed into 'An elephant thundering through a concrete jungle' ), sometimes wistful (Victoria Tamlyn writes 'I could be going to the Caribbean on a jumbo jet, Cruising with the first class, puffy clouds serving me golden air.... but sadly I am only going to Sainsbury's by the 249 bus' ) or philosophical (Amy Beecher, age 11, says 'I wish this bus would take me to where the shadows go, When there is nothing and no-one to cast them' ) and often straight from the heart (a child in year one at Sunnyhill school simply writes 'I wish this bus was taking me to Trinidad because my granddad and his dog Jasper live there' .)

Partnership consultant, Elizabeth Gowing, said:

The schools where the Partnership children learn are linked by the buses which run from Norwood Bus Garage, and the Moving Poetry project has been a wonderful opportunity to celebrate these links in the children's own words. We hope they provide a few uplifting moments in passengers' journeys on these buses over the summer.

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

We are always keen to be involved in community projects wherever practical. The poems the children have written show great imagination 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 the children with their poetry and an Arriva bus. Please contact Kate Flint or Elizabeth Gowing if you will be attending.
• The schools involved are Crown Lane Primary School , Elm Wood Primary School , Kingswood Primary School , Paxton Primary School , St Luke's Primary School, Sunnyhill Primary School and Norwood Secondary School .
• Funded through the London Borough of Lambeth, the Norwood Partnership was set up two years ago to give its schools a chance to work together to address common issues, share good practice and develop a learning 'community' for teachers, school staff, families and - of course - children. Members of these communities learn from, with and about one another in a range of projects aimed at: raising standards improving transition from primary to secondary school, reducing barriers to learning and promoting lifelong learning.