Allen Signs Challenges Primary Pupils to Put Pen to Paper

Artistic pupils at Fosse Way Academy in North Hykeham, Lincoln have been designing their own Lincoln Knights as part of a competition launched by Allen Signs.

The sign and vehicle livery business, which has offices in North Hykeham and Nottingham, challenged the children, aged from three to 10 years old, to come up with an award-winning design.

They also took ‘The Spirit of Lincoln’ knight, which is now located outside the Usher Gallery as part of the Lincoln Knights’ Trail, into the academy to help stimulate the children’s creativity.

On Friday (7th July), Director Glen Merryweather presented the pupils with their prizes during a special assembly. The winner from each of the eight year groups received a £10 book voucher, while the two overall winners got a mini Lincoln Knights sculpture to take home and colour in.

“It was so hard to choose the winning entries as they were all so good and it was obvious that the children had put a lot of hard work into their creations,” said Glen.

“However, it is a competition so there have to be winners and losers, but all of the children enjoyed taking part and it was nice to see those who weren’t successful congratulate their classmates.

“We always enjoy coming in to Fosse Way Academy as it’s a lovely school and all of the children are so polite. The pupils and the staff are always a pleasure to work with.”

Allen Signs has links with the school as both of Glen’s sons are pupils and the firm has designed and manufactured the school’s interior and exterior signage.

Glen and the team have also worked with the school council, which some of the pupils sit on, to produce a series of signs for the playground to help reinforce positive messages about good behaviour, such as picking up litter.

Headteacher Mr Robert Cowling said: “Our relationship with Allen Signs goes back some way now as David Allen’s children also attended Fosse Way. Over the years we have worked together on many projects and we have always found the team to be extremely creative, skilled and professional.

“They take the time to work patiently with the pupils and listen to their views. This competition has enabled the children to show their own creativity and they really enjoyed seeing the large knight model when Glen brought it in to school. We also used the competition to find out about the history of Lincoln and many of us have now visited the Lincoln Knights’ Trail in the city.”