THE Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson, visited Selborne Primary School last Wednesday to unveil a beautiful mosaic, created by the children and sited at the entrance to the school for all to see.

According to headteacher Janet Knott the aim had been to find a whole school art project to provide something at the front of the school “to demonstrate that we are a Church school”.

The decision was taken to create a mosaic, with the children each producing an individual design to reflect the activities and ethos of the school.

Six pupils then worked with David Bowers, of Mosaic Madness, to produce a final design from these ideas while incorporating four Bible stories, plus activities undertaken at the school such as the French flag to represent French lessons, cricket stumps to represent sport, a drum to depict the school’s musical side, and paint brushes to represent art work.

Mr Bowers then organised the construction of the mosaic, using swimming pool tiles to render it weather-proof, with everyone having a hand in forming the overall picture.

In addition to the main mosaic, the children made four individual panels featuring the words of the school’s core Christian values – love, fellowship, courage and truth – which will be displayed in the school hall.

At an overall cost of £2,000 for the production of the mosaic and the installation costs, the project attracted the support of the Alton Decorative and Fine Arts Society (ADFAS), which donated £1,000 under the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies’ Young Arts programme, designed to encourage young people to engage with the arts.

An additional £1,000 came from the Evi Maclachlan Fund at Newton Valence Church.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony on behalf of ADFAS, chairman John Harrap congratulated the children and staff on their “beautiful new mosaic” of which they had “every reason to be extremely proud”.

“Maybe in years to come when you visit your old school you will remember which piece was your very own.

“You have taken enormous trouble to produce a fine artwork and we are delighted to be associated with it,” he added.

In thanking the sponsors for their support, Mrs Knott said: “What a wonderful project it was for our children to undertake. They were all fully involved with the design process and each child had the satisfaction of putting a piece of the picture into the mosaic.

“David Bowers, of Mosaic Madness, was wonderful with the children and was able to get the best out of them in terms of creating the design and understanding the process.

“I would highly recommend him to any school or group considering a mosaic. We have been left with a great piece of art that shows the values and importance of our school to our children.”