A TALENTED youngster from a Barrow school has written a powerful poem in response to the death of George Floyd.

Jasmine Blake, a year nine student at Chetwynde School, wrote the moving poem, named ‘Tribute’, after teachers set work asking pupils the question ‘What can I do to change the world?'

Students were asked to write song lyrics, or a poem about the worldwide Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

Jasmine's poem pays tribute to 17 black people killed by police in the USA between 2014 and 2020 and tells their stories.

They include Mr Floyd, whose death in May sparked protests around the globe.

An excerpt from the poem says: 'The disgusting part of all of these stories

'Is the justice of it all was declined by all attorneys

'No real charges given and if given were small

'And if you think about it we're not equal at all

'So let it be heard that people have died

'For the shade of their skin and the colour of their eyes.'

Performing arts teacher Mrs Parkinson said: “The Black Lives Matter movement is very important to our students and I wanted to set some drama work with this in mind.

“The students were asked to write a poem or monologue in the style of the song ‘I Know Where I’ve Been’ from a musical called Hairspray.

"Jasmine is a conscientious hard working student in drama lessons at school but her commitment to her online learning since school closed has been incredible.

“I was so impressed with this piece of writing, I felt that more people needed to read it. Jasmine is a very talented student with a real flair for writing, especially when it’s something she really believes in.”