TWO STALYBRIDGE primary schools have teamed up to make their mark on the town in the form of a new sculpture.
More than 120 pupils at Millbrook and Wild Bank got together to create a piece of art that was created by chainsaw artist Mike Burgess and installed at Woodview in Carrbrook.
Featuring a crown, to recognise The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the totem pole-type structure also features bees and honeycomb, reflecting both the surrounding area and the fact it is part of Stalybridge’s status as Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture 2022.
The monument is part of a larger project that has seen the schools combine art and permaculture through the glue of the 4Cs of thinking skills – creativity, collaboration, critical and caring thinking.
That saw pupils make wildflower seed-bombs, draw close observations of wild flowers and examine the inputs and outputs of a wildflower meadow for our communities and biodiversity.
On another activity, pupils used dialogue to think critically and creatively about what is art? A third activity used bushcraft to work collaboratively and a fourth activity used caring thinking to find out about an artist and create a piece of art inspired by their work.
The pupils also created their own artistic wooden discs using bushcraft skills and painted individual canvasses of wildflower meadows.
As the statue was unveiled on Thursday, July 14, all the pupils received a Discover Arts Award from the Arts Council England.
Paula Moses, director at Permanent Education – which ran the scheme – said: “This wasn’t just a fun project to do at the end of term – feedback from schools states that it provided a real opportunity for pupils to learn about art, nature and community as well as develop their speaking and listening and 4Cs thinking skills.”
Fellow director Rebecca Gough added: “We are very grateful for the support we have received for this project – not only from the National Lottery Communities Fund but importantly from PG Fabrications in Hyde, who have kindly installed the finished sculpture for free in Woodview.
“We would also like to thank Tracy Webster and her team at the Tameside Council’s culture and libraries department, which provided the Arts Award booklets and certificates for 120 pupils and John Courtman at Tameside Council’s Greenspaces. who helped us find the perfect place for the sculpture!”