Local school shortlisted in national competition to win playground worth £5k

Children attending the Newcastle-based West Denton primary school have collected over 1,000 plastic bottle tops and turned them into stunning artwork pieces.

The plastic-made murals mark a nationwide recycling campaign to raise awareness about the dangerous impact of plastic waste on the environment.

Children at the school were inspired by waste artists Sarah Turner and Michelle Reader after a trip to Tynemouth Aquarium and a reading of Turner’s Somebody Swallowed Stanley.

West Denton Primary School are now set to enter an online competition alongside nine other finalists.

The winning school will receive a playground makeover worth £5,000 while the runners up will be presented with tablets worth over £100.

Carol Knowles, Early Years Lead at  West Denton, said: “This competition embeds many of our school core values.

“It was a fun and creative way for our children to learn that by working together, our choices can clean up the ocean and make it a safer place for animals that live there.

“They were passionate about the plastic pollution message and even at a young age believe we all have a part to play in making the world we live in a better place.

“Our Nursery children were vocal in switching from single-use plastic to reusable straws for milk time and Reception wrote a group poem ‘Danger Ocean’ about animals eating and becoming tangled in a plastic bag.”

The Message in a Bottle Top campaign, run by Composite Prime in collaboration with National Schools Partnership, is now in its second year of running.

Composite Prime Director Charles Taylor added: “We’re absolutely delighted with the level of interest in our Message in a Bottle campaign, which has grown exponentially in year two. The standard of entries has been incredible and it’s been so difficult to select a top ten.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to know that thousands of pupils across the country have engaged with the educational resources we’ve created to raise awareness about such a serious and consequential issue.

“We’ve absolutely loved reviewing all the stunning entries and every school that entered should be so proud of their hard work and dedication to the project.

“We’re very excited to award the winning school with their well-deserved playground makeover later in the year. Good luck West Denton Primary School!”