TEACHER Neil Elder, of St Augustine’s Priory English department, is a winner of the national poetry prize, the Cinnamon Press Poetry Pamphlet Prize.

His collection of poetry, Codes of Conduct, will be published by the Cinnamon Press publishing house in February.

Mr Elder has been encouraging poetry to flourish at the school, by inviting poet Tom Warner to run workshops for senior students and this year producing the third in a series of booklets by pupils, Poems from the Priory.

He said: “The process of writing poetry is a slow one that requires patience, particularly in the editing and refining of pieces.

"Ultimately, it helps oneself and, hopefully, readers make a little more sense of the world we live in.”

The Cinnamon Press Poetry Pamphlet Prize was adjudicated by Ian Gregson, poet, author and Emeritus Professor in the School of English Literature at Bangor University.

St Augustine’s Priory is a Catholic independent day school for girls aged 3-18 in Hillcrest Road, Ealing.