BÀRDACHD

Poetry recitation is a great competition for children of all ages. Children learn new Gaelic words and phrases and practise using their voice to add expression and convey emotion.

Building confidence to speak in front of an audience can help them at school and beyond.

Children should not refer to words during their performance - they should perform from memory. This can seem daunting at first and means that a fair bit of practice is needed, but it usually comes together in the end.

There should be no actions or props used during poetry recitation. Encourage your child to use expression in their voice.

There are ‘prescribed poems’ for each school year / age group - your child must recite the prescribed poem - they cannot choose another one.

**Important** Enter the competition for your child's school year or age on 1 October 2025 (the time of the Royal National Mòd) - so, for example:

• p1 in June 2025, enter p2 poem
• p7 in June 2025, enter age 11-12 (secondary) poem
• age 12 in June 2025, but 13 by 1 October 2024, enter age 13-15 poem.

Poems for 2025 are:

• Primary 2 (on 1 Oct '25): Tha mise cluinntinn fuaim

• Primary 3 (on 1 Oct '25): Leum an cat

• Primary 4 (on 1 Oct '25): Thuirt mo Mhàthair

• Primary 5 (on 1 Oct '25): An Rèis Mhòr

• Primary 6 (on 1 Oct '25): Beachd

• Primary 7 (on 1 Oct '25): Cailleach-oidhche Fhroboist

• Age 11-12 and in secondary (on 1 Oct '25): Dìomhaireachd nan Speuran

• Age 13-15 (on 1 Oct '25): Beaumont-Hamel

• Age 16-18 (on 1 Oct '25): Own choice

Use the list above to find the correct poem, then download the words (along with a helpful audio file) from the 'Junior Oral' section of the An Comunn Gàidhealach online shop.