SCHOOL pupils across Sunderland are getting creative in a very different way this term.
21 schools across the city have signed up to take part in the Great North Snowdogs trail, which is taking place across Tyne and Wear in the autumn.
Each school has received a Snowdog sculpture, and are working to decorate it, ready to go on display in the city.
Great North Snowdogs is a large-scale, mass-appeal public art event. More than 50 large Snowdog sculptures and 110 little Snowdogs will be decorated by artists, community groups and schools to create a trail across Tyne and Wear for ten weeks.
These sculptures will then be auctioned off to help raise funds to support St Oswald’s Children’s Hospice.
St Oswald’s offers short breaks to children and young with incurable conditions, across the North East, including Sunderland.
Claire Weller, Year 5 teacher and Art and Design Technology co-ordinator at Rickleton Primary School in Washington, said: “The event will be fantastic when it hits the streets, and before then there’s so many ways we can get the pupils involved in creating our Snowdog, there’s been a lot of excitement around school about it.
“Every pupil did a design for a dog and we also took inspiration from a Chinese art week we had at school. We picked the key themes from the pupils’ ideas and are using the style of some art we were sent from a school in China.
“Our Snowdog is called Huamei which is Chinese for colourful.”
One pupil from every class at Rickleton Primary has been selected to work on decorating the final dog, which they’re doing using cotton buds.
Sienna Spalding, age 10, said: “I think our dog is going to look really pretty, I’m so pleased to be involved and I can’t wait to take my family out to see it when it’s finished.”
Nick Powell, Schools Project Coordinator from St Oswald’s Hospice said: “We’re delighted with the number of Sunderland schools who have signed up, and from this preview of Rickleton’s snowdog, it looks like there’s going to be some fantastic designs out there.
“We have now visited many of the schools involved to unveil their dog and tell them about the project. The enthusiasm of the children has been overwhelming and we are confident that our trail is going to be a paw-fect success!”
Other schools taking part across the city include Mill Hill, George Washington, St Mary’s Roman Catholic, Lambton, Blackfell, Seaburn Dene, South Hylton, Southwick, Hetton Lyons, Thorney Close, Wessington, St Leonards, Shiney Row and Valley Road primary schools, Diamond Hall Infants, Ryhope Juniors, Castle View and Academy 360 secondary schools.