Selby school children met with His Majesty The King after competition win
Selby school children met with His Majesty The King after competition win
Monk Fryston pupils attended the royal event at York Minster where their own statue designs were unveiled
Two students from a Selby Primary School were amongst those lucky enough to meet His Majesty King Charles III, during his recent visit to York after they won a competition to design a stone carving to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee.
Olivia Blowman, aged six, and Scarlet Smith, aged ten, from Monk Fryston Church of England Primary School, took part in the Design a Carving Jubilee Competition which formed part of a programme of activity hosted by York Minster to mark the 70th anniversary of the coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
As part of the competition local primary school children from the Diocese of York were invited to design a stone carving on the theme of their hopes and dreams for the world for the next 70 years, with their designs then being transformed into stone pieces carved by the Minster’s stonemasons.
Attending the prestigious event with their families and Monk Fryston teacher Linda Chorlton, both Olivia and Scarlet were able to meet The King as well as witness the unveiling and blessing of the cathedral’s new statue of the late Queen.
The competition theme was 'hopes and dreams for the world for the next 70 years', and the designs submitted by the duo were selected out of more than 300 entries.
KS2 winner, Scarlet spoke about her experience, “King Charles was really friendly and kind, he asked me lots of questions about my design and told me to keep up with my artwork. I drew my design because in the future I would like humans, plants and animals to be in harmony.”
Olivia also commented “It was really good to meet King Charles, he asked me about the tree in my design and I told him it was The Tree of Life which made him laugh.”
Commenting on the event Rick Weights, Executive Headteacher of Monk Fryston Primary School, said: “We are very proud of Olivia and Scarlet; we think both drawings were outstanding. The children will remember this amazing achievement for years to come especially with His Majesty in attendance.”
Commenting on the winning designs the judges said that they ‘loved’ how the tree in the design submitted by Olivia had been drawn. They added that the branch design had been ‘well-considered and has lots of movement’, and that planting more trees for the future is such an important message.
They added that Scarlet’s design had been chosen because it thought about both people and animals. They added that the drawing was original, and were inspired by the challenge of carving a kangaroo which was in the design. The message behind it was ‘full of hope’ and beautifully written.
