Y4 pupil wins Scavenger Art Competition regional heat
26th May 2017
In February this year, our Year 3 and Year 4 children had the opportunity to take part in this year’s John Davidson (Pipes) Limited Sustainability in Schools art competition. Y3 children went out and about to the river in Corbridge and Y4 went to Matfen Woods to scavenge for different leaves, twigs, sticks, feathers and other materials they could use to create their own woodland scene/collage.
Frances, one of our Year Four pupils, has won the Scottish & Borders regional heat of a ‘Sustainability in Schools’ art competition run by JDP, a leading supplier to the UK building industry. Frances wins £500 for our school and next month will compete against 1,000 UK pupils for an overall £1500 prize toward a sustainability project at their school. She was also presented with a £20 high street gift voucher.
Each year, pupils across England, Wales and Scotland take part in JDP’s ‘Sustainability in Schools’ programme. The educational initiative operates across JDP’s branch network who invite local schools to enter. The programme promotes healthy living, the importance of the environment and preserving water and other precious resources to primary school age children through an annual themed art competition.
JDP’s 2017 theme, a Scavenger Hunt, tasked pupils aged seven to nine years to go on a scavenger hunt in their local area and create a collage of a forest/woodland scene with their findings. As well as the monetary prize, JDP will feature twelve of the competition’s most eye-catching designs on its 2017/18 customer calendar.
Hayley Slack, JDP’s Marketing & Communications Coordinator, comments: “Outdoor learning is a vital part of the curriculum and encourages pupils to learn through adventure and interaction with nature. We work with the Woodland Trust to create new native woodland to offset carbon emissions from our delivery vehicles, so the children could even be stepping through JDP planted woodland while they explore.
“Each child received an adventure pack to aid their search and collect the best twigs, leaves, feathers and other natural materials for their collage creation in the classroom.”
She continues: “The variety of entries we’ve had demonstrates a strong sense of creativity, use of colour and good imagination, leading to the creation of some fantastic collages. It’s been difficult to pick a winner, but Frances’ stood out for us and will look great photographed in this year’s calendar.”
Commenting on behalf of Corbridge Church of England First School, Grace Beresford, Y4 teaching assistant, said: “The children were really engaged and enjoyed working on the topic very much. Forest School activities are very popular. JDP gave our children the opportunity to go into the woods and take part in this exciting activity. We are really proud of Frances’ achievements and we’ll use the money to further benefit the children’s education.”