PUPILS from Maesglas Primary School Newport Wales have taken part in a photography and design workshop to encourage them to get creative to design a poster for Coronation Generation Challenge, a national campaign to mark the Coronation of King Charles III.
Funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Coronation Generation Poster Design Challenge is aimed at getting young people creatively involved in celebrations for the Coronation.
Award-winning educational charity, Ideas Foundation which champions creativity in the classroom is working with schools and colleges from across the UK, inviting them to design a digital poster to reflect four themes youth, diversity, sustainability and community as the nation looks forward to the special event.
The workshop at Maesglas Primary School saw the students working alongside professional photographers and creatives including Cannon Ambassadors; Clive Booth and Eliska Sky, creative and design lead, Hannah Wood from Wood & Co. and Lauren Poole and Emily Cuthbert from advertising agency McCann Bristol, to develop and hone their skills and build confidence. Ideas coming from the workshop included ‘Cheers for Charles’, ‘Coronation Cup’ featuring a rugby ball being crowned, and the ‘Coronation Cwtch*’ showing grinning pupils in a warm embrace.
Ideas Foundation is delivering 15 in-person creative workshops across the UK, including Llandeilo Primary School, though the challenge is open online for all students from eight to eighteen years old.
Emma Wride, an award-winning educator who acted as the Welsh co-ordinator for the project was delighted with the reaction to the day. “It was great to help create awareness of potential careers in the arts and the vital role creativity plays in helping young people to express themselves, their opinions and how they feel. It was wonderful to see children with special educational needs being fully engaged with other children.”
Gethin aged 10 who attended the workshop summed up how the pupils felt about the day “We were loving it!”. Other students said, “We came up with the idea of the ‘Coronation cwtch’ – a celebration of our community in Wales” and “We learnt lots about Wales and took phenomenal pictures”.
Heather MacRae, Chief Executive at Ideas Foundation said “Giving the children the chance to be creative is central to our work. Over thirty students from Maesglas Primary School worked alongside world-class creative professionals, to develop their ideas about the Coronation Generation themes and then bring their ideas to life with professional cameras and art directors. Their creativity was astounding – but more importantly they worked in teams and showed how imagination can become reality. The teachers are so committed to nurturing their student creativity –prioritising their experience and made us so welcome.”
The idea behind the Coronation Generation Challenge is to get young people to create visual stories that celebrate the King’s Coronation, using photography, copywriting, typography, and graphic design to showcase what the Coronation means to them.
For many, The King’s Coronation will be the first celebration of this type they will have ever seen. It is hoped the Coronation Generation Challenge will help young people to feel part of this moment of history and engage a new generation, particularly those in areas of the UK where deprivation levels are high.
Michele Rowlands a lead teacher at Maesglas Primary School, enjoyed watching the students learn that art is more than just drawing: “The pupils met some amazing people who are making a living from something they love doing. Many of the children come from families where there are several generations of worklessness. We hope that this day will have given them a sense of their potential and what they can do with their talents.”
The challenge closes at 11:59pm on the 30th April and during the Coronation weekend, ten winning posters will be displayed on digital billboards on sites across the UK, donated by Clear Channel UK.
Schools and colleges wishing to take part in the Coronation Generation Poster Design Challenge can find materials and instructions for participation and submission at coronationgeneration.org .
