Pupils create eco-friendly sculpture with the help of local housebuilder

Positivity is key at St Michael’s CofE School, so when Dandara offered to commission a motivational art piece from local artist Simon Tipping, the school jumped at the chance to get involved. Dandara, who is building a collection of new homes at its St Michael’s Park development in Stewkley, gave Year 4 pupils the chance to get creative by taking part in the design of the art piece with Simon, which was made with recycled materials from the site team at the development.

The artwork, which is displayed at the front of the school, consists of a #together sign along with bright, vibrant colours outlining the globe. The art piece symbolises friendship and community around the world, and also highlights the importance of recycling.

David Morley, Head Teacher at St Michael’s CofE School, commented: “The art piece that our pupils worked on with Simon truly captures our school ethos and vision of togetherness. It was great to see the Year 4 pupils getting creative and the whole school loves the final product - the project is only made better by the fact it was designed using materials which would have otherwise gone to waste. Thank you to Simon for bringing his artistic skills, and to Dandara for commissioning the project.”

Simon Tipping, the local artist from Route Canal Arts who worked with the pupils on the unique piece, adds: “I’ve never worked on a project quite like this, so it was really interesting to get involved in something a bit different and recycle materials to create it. The Year 4 pupils had lots of fantastic ideas and I feel that we’ve represented the school’s vision well.”

Rachel Pepper, Head of Sales at Dandara Northern Home Counties, said: “Having previously worked with St Michael’s CofE Primary School on the burial of a time capsule, it is great to enlist its help on another project. With the climate crisis at the forefront of everyone’s mind, we wanted to make sure that this art piece was created using only recycled materials from our nearby development St Michaels’ Park. It looks brilliant, it’s eco-friendly and is a great representation of the school!”

Dandara is currently selling new homes at its St Michaels Park development, which is just 0.5 miles away from St Michaels CofE school, where a collection of three- and four-bedroom homes are located. Prices start from £399,950 for a three-bedroom home.

To find out more about St Michaels Park or Dandara, call 01525 351 261 or visit www.dandara.com/st-michaels-park.