School Arts Competitions

School Arts Competition – Brompton Westbrook Primary School

“Happy Place”: creativity and imagination on display

Our club supported Brompton Westbrook Primary School in this year’s School Arts Competition. President Bob Stokes, Ron Hoile and Bernard Fernando visited the school on 26 June 2026 to judge the entries and present the prizes.

The school chose "Happy Place" as the theme, with awards presented in four categories:

• Most Imaginative Happy Place
• Most Unique Style
• Best Story in a Picture
• Best Mixed Media

The children produced an impressive range of imaginative and colourful artwork. One of the highlights of the visit was talking to the young artists, who were enthusiastic to explain the ideas and stories behind their creations. Their confidence, creativity and pride in their work made the judging both enjoyable and challenging.

We were warmly welcomed by the school’s Art Lead, Shelley Lynch, and Headteacher, Mrs Sue Mason. The excellent organisation and enthusiasm shown by Shelley and her colleagues contributed greatly to the success of the event.

President Bob Stokes presented the prizes to the winners. The children were fascinated by the impressive Rotary President’s chain of office, admiring its size, weight and sparkle. Every child who took part in the competition received a Rotary certificate in recognition of their participation.

The School Arts Competition continues to be an excellent opportunity to encourage creativity, imagination and artistic expression whilst strengthening Rotary’s links with local primary schools and the wider community.

Bob Stokes, Ron Hoile and Bernard Fernando

School Arts Competition - Hempstead Junior School

Easter and Recycling: a theme for creative expression

Our club supported the first school in this year’s arts competition at Hempstead Junior School in Birch Grove. Ron and Bernard were invited to the school on 30 April to judge the entries submitted by pupils up to Year 6.

The school’s Art Lead, Mr Richard Moores, chose “Easter and Recycling” as the theme for the competition. The children responded with remarkable imagination, using leftover Easter materials recycled to create a wide variety of artistic pieces. Faced with such originality and diversity, we quickly had to devise an impromptu scoring framework to judge the entries fairly.

First Prize

This colourful entry demonstrated considerable effort in collecting recycled materials and showed genuine individual creativity. Following the competition, we received a touching “Thank You” message from the pupil and her mother.

Second Prize

A sizeable and imaginative 3D creation which, judging by the materials used, clearly involved the consumption of a large number of Easter eggs!

Third Prize

A small but very charming rabbit created entirely from recycled items. One foot fell off during judging!

After the judging, we attended the school assembly, introduced ourselves, and Ron spoke briefly about Rotary and our support for art and creativity in schools. The winners received their prizes with evident surprise and delight. Each received a large set of coloured pens and an art set.

Our club awarded a £100 grant to each of the 7 participating schools to fund prizes. Their entries will be judged before the end of the term, and our President will be attending some of the awards.

Ron with the second prize winning rabbit

We believe this is a valuable project that encourages creativity, imagination, and healthy competition among younger children whilst supporting art in local primary schools. It also provides an excellent opportunity for the club to raise its public profile within the community.

Ron Hoile and Bernard Fernando