Sandy Lane: A Poem in the Present by pupils at St. Richard's Primary School

In one of the creative writing workshops at St Richards, we looked at Sandy Lane in the present day.

We talked about how writers have a special 'writer's eye' - being a writer is about looking out for the small details that other people might not see or pick up on.

Year 4 and 5 pupils went on a field trip to Sandy Lane to try out their writer's eyes. We were looking for ways to capture the things we noticed using descriptive words and metaphors to create a collaborative poem. The final poem we composed together is rich with similes, too.

Many thanks to our brilliant support teachers who accompanied us, Mr Beck and Mrs Lewis and kudos to Mrs Lewis who also turned out to be an ace creative poet - describing the tiles running along the walls as 'like white chocolate pieces' (they really are!) and the trolleys outside Co-op 'like a crocodile'. The children agreed so both of these ideas made it into our class poem.

The young people at St Richard's were a pleasure to work with; a really creative and inspiring group.

St Richard's pupils using their writers eyes to spot the things that other people might not have noticed.

Here is their poem. Perhaps see if you can find all the things that the pupils have written about next time you are at Sandy Lane Shopping Centre.

A Walk Through Sandy Lane Shopping Centre

The sign on the stramp is Calpol pink with lemon yellow.

The multicoloured stramp is so fun when you slide down it on a sled - it is like a rollercoaster.

The bricks are solid, smooth, straight, chestnut brown, parallel - chocolate coloured.

Outside the fruit and veg shop the round, yellow, juicy melon makes a transformation into a planet every time the sun reaches it (and if you eat the melon, every time the sun reaches you, you explode or turn into a planet.)

The strawberries and berries are sunset pink. Altogether, they remind me of the juiciest fruit salad ever.

The green plants growing on top of the balcony are eyelashes fluttering in the breeze; lime green eyelashes hanging on the edge.

The flower shop is a colourful picture of pink, purple, blue and yellow.

There is a mystery door – secrets unknown – Sandy lane was a castle in the olden days and that is where they locked them up (and chopped off their heads!)

Dark green leaves up high are forgotten Christmas decorations.

The glass ceiling overhead is a shiny, clear roman mosaic.

The Co-op!

The Co-op is lime green with food on the windows that makes me feel hungry;

Meatballs that reminded me of the football tournament yesterday.

The coal outside is imprisoned, locked up in bars that look like they’re in jail.

The sour sweet red wine is pouring out of the bottle on the window,

And shopping trolleys are lined up like a crocodile.

A dog bowl outside is a sour peach and is crying for dogs to drink from it.

Up high, the tiles look like white chocolate, waiting for someone to eat!

Stage lights – Sandy lane is a theatre.

There’s a blue rusty sign with an address on every shop.

The cake shop is a heavenly place for sugar.

The post Office is as red as the sun and a bit of a multicoloured rainbow.

The iron railings are painted green to black – they remind me of an adventure.

A poem composed by children from Year 4 and 5 at St Richard’s Catholic Primary School, Skelmersdale.