WORD - The Front Line is a platform for young people to express, connect, and change the world.
WORD - The Front Line is an inter-high school spoken word poetry competition, bringing together teams of young people from across Auckland to share their stories in an explosion of youth expression. It is a poetry slam with the purpose of engaging and growing the potential of our future leaders. It is the only creative battlefield of its kind, equipping young people with poetry prowess and leadership principles for an opportunity to battle for themselves and the challenges that their generation face.
Wesley College 2023
Alfriston College 2024
Dilworth School 2025
2026 Key Dates!
We are excted to drop the upcoming dates for the 2026 Programme. Venues and Locations will follow. PLEASE READ THE 2024 INFO PACK AND RULE BOOK FOR MORE INFORMATION.
Download links below!
Teacher’s Night, Tue 3 Mar, 6PM - Studio One Toi Tū
WTFL Regional Heat #1 South/East, Tue 12 May, 5PM - MAC
WTFL Regional Heat #2 Central/Northwest, Wed 13 May, 5PM - TAPAC
WTFL Regional Heat #3 Central/Northwest, Tue 19 May, 5PM - TAPAC
WTFL Regional Heat #4 South/East, Wed 20 May, 5PM - MAC
Rā Toikupu – Day Camp, Sat 20 June, 10AM-4PM - TBC
He Reo Rangatahi, Tue 7 Jul. 10AM-5PM - TBC
Slam Camp , Sat 1 Aug - Sun 2 Aug, Overnight - Peter Snell Youth Village
Semi Finals Heat #1, Sat 15 Aug, 1PM-4PM - Herlad Theatre, Auckland Live
Semi Finals Heat #2, Sat 22 Aug, 1PM-4PM - Herald Theatre, Auckland Live
Grand Slam, Sat. 19 Sept, 7PM - Hunua Room, Auckland Live
About Word - The Front Line
The programme was launched in 2014 and has continued to grow and go from strength to strength. Every year hundreds of young people from across Auckland participate in our regional heats.
The programme focuses on writing, performance, team work, personal development, youth voice, identity, leadership, and community.
Any Auckland based High School can enter up to two teams, a team is made up of 4-6 students. Teams can be student led but is crucial to have the key contact of a teacher to confirm approval that the school supports the registration and for communication purposes. You can find further information about WORD - The Front Line, including the programme overview, rules, dates, and venues in our information pack.
Please read through the information pack and rule book prior to registering your team.
We are pleased to offer free presentations and workshops to all schools preparing for WORD - The Front Line regional heats. If you would like to book a presentation or workshop, or to find out more about Action Ed and WORD - The Front Line, please get in touch!
“The WORD - The Front Line poetry competition has provided a competitive platform students to develop their poetry and grow as people. We have 'sent' students to participate each year since 2014, and the support, development and attention these students have received from the team [at Action Ed] has been invaluable. Not only do they provide worthwhile experiences to help generate poetry from their like matter, but they also, vitally, provide mentoring to support teams through the difficulties of the challenge and to encourage them to embrace their vulnerability. Our Aorere teams have had superbly empathetic and driven mentors, and it is thanks to them that our students have been nurtured in terms of confidence, skill, and awareness. I am also thankful to the competition for exposing students to different varieties of poetry, for connecting students from different schools/deciles/worlds, and for providing a form for leaders to emerge.”
Cris Cucerzan, English Teacher, Aorere College
Up to 44
high schools involved each year!
90%
of the participants said it increased their overall self-confidence
