This week, students at Regent Farm First School, in South Gosforth, began work on their Shaun the Sheep sculpture. The final artwork will be displayed this Summer as part of the ‘Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne’ trail.
Schools in the region are busy decorating their very own Aardman sheep as part of the St Oswald’s Learning Programme, sponsored by Northumbrian Water.
Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne
From 19 July, for 10 weeks, Tyneside will play host to two flocks of sculptures inspired by Wallace and Gromit’s woolly sidekick, Shaun the Sheep. Forty-five large sculptures will form the Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne free public art trail -to raise funds for Newcastle’s St Oswald’s Hospice – accompanied by a 70-strong flock of smaller Shauns, designed and decorated by school children across the North East.
‘Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne’ is being held in conjunction with creative producers Wild in Art, along with Shaun the Sheep creators Aardman, headline trail partner Newcastle City Council, learning programme partner Northumbrian Water and community partner North Standard.
Regent Farm First School
Helen Moore, Head Teacher at Regent Farm commented:
“The inspiration for our design came from the children’s ideas. ‘Friendsheep’ represents the importance friendship, respect and love has on all our lives. We chose rainbows to illustrate happiness, diversity and respect: embracing our differences is what makes our world so wonderful. The children around the sheep are a community, holding hands and working together to learn new things or overcome challenges. The school star is central to our design because together we ‘inspire our rising stars’.”
Water company giving baa-ck
The smaller Shaun statues, given to schools, will form the focus of a Learning Programme by St Oswald’s Hospice, sponsored by Northumbrian Water.
As part of their sponsorship, Northumbrian Water will gift five small Shaun sculptures to Percy Main Primary School, Langley Park Primary School, Consett Infant School, Eastlea Primary School at Cramlington and Grace Darling C of E Primary at Newbiggin by the Sea.
Northumbrian Water will also work with schools to deliver its education programme, The Ripple Effect and has sponsored a large Shaun, which will be situated at an iconic location in the North East.
The sponsorship was announced at an assembly at Percy Main Primary School (on 26 April) when Libby Fryer, Shaun on the Tyne project lead, told the children about St Oswald’s Hospice.
Ross Smith, partnerships manager at Northumbrian Water added:
“This fantastic partnership builds on our history of working closely with schools across the region – which we do through our education programme, The Ripple Effect. By supporting the Learning Programme, we hope to inspire young people to make small changes in how they use water so that together we can make big waves in protecting our precious water supplies. We look forward to seeing the positive impact that the Learning Programme will have in our community, and we can’t wait for the sculptures to come to life over the next few months.”
A dedicated app and trail map will be launched soon to help visitors seek out both flocks once the trail begins. For more information visit www.shaunonthetyne.co.uk and search Shaun on the Tyne on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. #ShaunOnTheTyne
To download the Learning Programme click here, to apply to order a sculpture click here.
Percy Main Primary School is a Schools North East Partner School. If you’d like to find out more about our Partner School Programme click here.
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