Pupils from Westoe Crown Primary School in South Shields are perfecting their painting techniques and getting to grips with screwdrivers to help turn a retired bus into a vibrant and funky library for the school.
In March this year Stagecoach North East donated the 1995 Volvo Olympian double decker bus to the school who were desperately in need of a library. Since then, the young DIY’ers have been getting stuck in to give the bus a marvellous makeover, stripping out the bus and painting the exterior during the summer holidays.
The outside of the bus was painted with a range of vivid colours, with each year group being represented by a different colour. The remainder of the bus will be painted black and white in support of a well known local football club and also features a picture representation of the school’s arts and music festival ‘Westonbury’ in celebration of its 10th birthday. The pupils are now working on the designs for the external fascias.
Pupils and staff have also been involved in taking out the seats, with the youngsters taking the opportunity to learn all about flathead and Phillips screwdrivers and other tools of the DIY trade.
Members of the DIY Goldentime Library club who have helped with the project every Friday afternoon said: “We love working on the bus and it’s just the best lesson of the week. We really want to complete it so we can start using it as our very own library bus.”
Over the coming months, all those involved in the project will help to tackle the internal refit, as well as waterproofing, heating and lighting the bus and creating a library for many years to come.
