Young Photographer 2026

Our  9th Young Photographer competition at Wayland Academy has once again been a great success, with judge Dr Mike Harvey declaring this year's entries being the best ever, making his job particularly hard.

The subject this year was Wildlife, and Jake De'ath's superb portrait of a chaffinch declared the winner. Following a well-informed discussion with all the participants, Mike was impressed with their enthusiasm for photography.

Katie Allott, Art & Photography Teacher at the Academy said "My aim with GCSE Photography is for students to experience a new way to express themselves, whilst developing the skills and knowledge to achieve another extra GCSE qualification. Students attend afterschool for 3 hours a week and they complete a huge range of photoshoots and digital editing tutorials.

"The GCSE requires students to work independently to create individual ideas. Students must plan their own photoshoots based on a theme. They will develop their ideas and experiment with photoshop to achieve exciting and creative results.

"The Rotary competition is a wonderful asset to Wayland Academy students. They receive an outside brief from a client, this provides them with the experience of working like a professional photographer. The value which comes during the feedback / results afternoon is always a fantastic experience, if a little nerve-racking. Students learn to take compliments and suggestions for improvements to their work. This work is also submitted as part of their GCSE coursework which is worth 40% of their final GCSE grade.

"Thank you for the ongoing experience you provide for our students, they very much enjoy the experience"