School pupils pick up honours in church art competition
A primary school has been declared the winner of an arts competition for pupils' depictions of a church.
Staff and pupils from St Mary's CE Primary School, in Albrighton, were presented with the Crawford Cup at Saint Mary Magdalene church, by members of the Albrighton and District Civic Society.
It marked the tenth anniversary of the Civic Society School Awards Scheme, in which pupils from different schools are asked to submit their artwork on a chosen topic.
This year's theme was the Saint Mary Magdalene church itself and pupils from St Mary's CE Primary School, Birchfield School, near Albrighton, and Albrighton Primary School all entered.
Peter Woodman, chairman of the Albrighton and District Civic Society, said: "We have been running this for 10 years and it's been very successful each year with a different topic, and this year the topic was the church."
Mr Woodman presented the cup and school certificate to Ms Annette Ashwell and pupils from St Mary's CE Primary School, alongside the Reverend Mary Thomas, vicar at St Mary Magdalene.
Ms Ashwell, from the school office, said: "Thank you to Peter Woodman and all of the members of the Albrighton and District Civic Society for organising this each year. We are proud and honoured to take part and delighted to have won the Crawford Cup this year."
Ms Thomas said that she hopes to have the artwork transformed into an altar frontal and that "the quality and scope of the artwork was incredible".
Birchfield School and Albrighton Primary School both received runner-up shields and school certificates for their entries.
The shields were collected by Ken Swift, art master at Birchfield School; and Mike Pitchford, treasurer of the Albrighton and District Civic Society, on behalf of Albrighton Primary School.
