Pupils paint for posterity

YOUNGSTERS attending St Christopher's Primary this year will have their schooldays marked for posterity thanks to a project which will see their artwork used to decorate the new building.

Head teacher Ian Fellows asked volunteer mum Elizabeth Bailey to come up with an idea to get the pupils involved in making their mark on the new school building.

And a short while later, when she attended a party for one of her daughter's friends at Studio Ceramics, she knew she had found just the thing.

The company was started just a year ago by partners Sayra Naoumovitch and Anne Kesterton who wanted something for their own children to do when they were not in the mood for sports.

Now they offer parties at which youngsters can help produce and decorate their own pottery and tiles.

Seeing this Mrs Bailey asked Mrs Naoumovitch if she could tackle a project which would see all the infant school pupils having the opportunity to paint a tile each for use around the building.

She jumped at the chance and in October the first batch of youngsters put their creative talents to the test with the classes working on themes from 'flowers and butterflies' for year one children to 'my world' for some of the older ones.

And, in fact, it has proved so successful that it has been extended across the whole primary school with virtually all 960 youngsters taking part and the project set to run until around January.

Mrs Naoumovitch said: "This is a really prestigious project for us and I'm absolutely delighted to be involved. We're the only company of this kind on the island and this is a first for us.

"The children have been so enthusiastic, they're really loving it, specially since they know their tiles will be here in the school for years to come. It's a great opportunity for both us and them."

The pupils have been working under the watchful eye of project manager Cynthia Ikponmwonba and her team of Studio Ceramics staff working with teams of around 12 children per time to first paint a base colour on their tiles and then draw on their designs which they then paint in.

Once completed the tiles are taken back to Studio Ceramics where they are glazed and fired so they will be able to withstand the weather and the children's names are printed on them so each will be able to identify his or her own tile in years to come.

Mrs Bailey said: "There is a park near where I live in Washington DC where there are tiles all around and they looks so bright and colourful and they never seem to fade or be affected by the weather. So when Mr Fellows asked me to come up with an idea, I had something like that in mind.

"When I saw what they were doing at Studio Ceramics I knew it would be ideal but I wasn't sure Sayra would be keen on taking on a project this size, there are now 960 children involved and even some of the parents and teachers want to get in on the act. But it has gone brilliantly, the children are really enthusiastic about it and are loving the painting work. We've chosen lovely bright colours so I think they will look great on the walls about the place once they are all finished and we've also discovered some very talented young artists.

"So next time you come to St Christopher's Primary School make sure you look out for our tiles, I'm sure they're going to look wonderful."