Pupils at Coquet Park First School in Whitley Bay have paid tribute to the contribution of key workers by designing and unveiling a stained-glass window dedicated to their experience in the pandemic.
Featuring a rainbow beaming from St Mary’s Lighthouse, the window is a combination of ideas and designs that were all drawn and collated by pupils at the school.
The students reflected on the impact the pandemic had on their community and chose to celebrate the generosity, time, and skill of everyone including NHS workers and key workers.
In an act of generosity, local stained-glass studio The Glasshouse in North Shields, transformed the children’s window from a drawing into a large window that is now permanently on display at the school for free.
Over the past year the children’s inspiring designs and ideas were brought to life with every piece of glass being hand cut and fused together and on the hottest day of the year, pupils and representatives from The Glasshouse and North Tyneside Council gathered to officially unveil the window.
The window will now proudly be on display in the ‘round’ window facing the school yard for all to enjoy.
Speaking of attending the opening of the window, Cllr Pat Oliver, Chair of North Tyneside Council, said: “It has been brilliant to visit this wonderful local school to celebrate the end of term and to see first-hand the beautiful stained-glass window which clearly means so much to the pupils and teachers.
“It’s a creation from their imagination and experience and the touching sentiment of thanking those who did so much for us during the pandemic will leave a legacy at the school. Well done to everyone who has been involved!”
Collen Ward, headteacher at Coquet Park First School, said: “We are so proud of the children, sharing their ideas to remember our community during the last two years. The generosity shown by The Glasshouse will be remembered by all who visit the school. Thank you to the staff who supported the children to share their ideas and contributed to the design.
“It has been a pleasure to see the window develop watching a skilled team work on the design, giving their time freely to support the school and recognise the work of our local community. An extremely generous gift to the school will be remembered by everyone.”
Derek Halliday, owner of The Glasshouse, said: “We’ve loved being able to do this work and I’m really proud of everyone involved including the pupils and our skilled craftsmen.
“We wanted to donate our skills to the school as they have kept our children safe, happy and educated over the last two years. We said let’s go and make something beautiful to celebrate this achievement and the beauty that can be found in the human spirit in difficult times. It’s been a pleasure to be involved in.”
Coquet Park First School in Whitley Bay caters for pupils aged between 3 to 9 years’ old. You can find out more about the school here: https://www.coquetpark.co.uk/#