The faces of proud Fairfax School pupils were a picture when they unveiled their award-winning playground mural last week.
The students, under the direction of former art teacher Corinne Neville, took a dilapidated brick wall facing their playground, plastered it white and created the striking design, which features digital self portraits of themselves and their fellow students from the schools they are partnered with. They are linked with five schools, two in Germany and one each in Estonia, Spain and Cyprus. The design shows jigsaw pieces coming together - a metaphor for the theme of international togetherness.
Artist Graham Crowley, the former Head of Painting at the Royal College of Art whose work has been recognised with a prestigious John Moores Prize 24 award, said: "I consider the design to be distinguished, graphically and architecturally impressive, moving and inventive, showing original thought and a high contemporary cultural awareness and expressing the best of education."
Fairfax students have worked on a number of visual and art activities with their international partners. The school is one of more than 8,000 schools across the Uk to have established school partnerships links across 31 European countries through the EU-funded Comenius programme. Fairfax also recently scooped the DfES International School Award, which recognises the work of schools and teachers working to instil a global dimension into the learning experience of children and young people.
Pat Davis, Head of Art, said: "Everyone who sees it says 'Wow!' It's quite stunning because it is such an innovative design. It has been a good year's project and it has been wonderful to see it materialise. All the other children have been very curious to see that has been going on - it has been covered with polythene sheeting to protect it from the weather, so work has literally been done under wraps. The pupils have thoroughly enjoyed doing it and have regularly given up their lunch hours and stayed after school to do it, and they are to be congratulated on their achievement."