From its market places to the Great Ouse, King’s Lynn provided the perfect inspiration when our children rose to the challenge of an art competition.

All age groups at Gaywood Primary took part in the contest, which was run by Barratt & Wilson Homes, and tasked entrants to ‘Draw Your Favourite Thing in the Local Area’, in the run up to Children’s Art Week at the end of June.

“The children had to create a piece of artwork inspired by King’s Lynn,” said Abigail King, Art Lead at our school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“I gave each year group a theme based on King’s Lynn, and all the teachers and teaching assistants got involved helping the children achieve their full potential.”

The Early Years children used collage techniques to depict the town’s markets; Years 1 and 2 created models of fishing and the Quayside from recycled materials; and the Year 3 pupils depicted the River Great Ouse in watercolour paints.

Other themes included ‘Night Time at the Mart’, where Year 4 worked in chalk on black paper; while our Year 5 class sketched Lynn landmarks in pencil and charcoal; and Year 6 combined collage and sketching onto old maps for their topic on Historical King’s Lynn.

The artwork will be displayed in an exhibition at the school at the beginning of June, so that visitors, friends, family members, and carers can enjoy the results of the children’s creativity.

“It’s an exciting new competition,” added Miss King.

“Wider community art competitions are really valuable for the children – not because every child needs to ‘win’, but because the experience connects creativity to the world outside school.

“The children feel a sense of pride, and are given the opportunity to explore different ideas and styles within art.”