By TANIA PHILLIPS
WARWICK West students’ Jumpers and Jazz entry in the school competition, themed “String”, is bringing plenty of winter cheer to students and motorists on Pratten Street.
The display, based on the school’s Shine motto, brought 70s string art back in vogue for this year’s Jumpers and Jazz festival.
Teacher-in-charge Sharon Gimm said the display epitomised the “It takes a Village” approach with many hands contributing to the colourful display.
“Miss Donnelly drew the letters onto the boards, Miss Cook carefully marked out 2cm spacings around each letter and 1600 nails and two black thumbs later, we had the letters outlined ready for ‘stringing’,” Miss Gimm said.
As is typical with Jumpers and Jazz fever, the unknowing are given a job and in this case, even Miss Gimm’s parents got involved.
“Dad made up the stands for the back of each of the letter boards (20 in all) and encouraged Bruce Shelley from Shelley’s Industries to kindly donate the steel, and mum cut the centres out of 500 plates to be distributed around the classrooms.”
“Students from 6G and 5CM punched holes around each of the 500 plates before they were distributed around the classrooms to be strung with wool, feathers, beads and pipe cleaners.”
Under the watchful eye of Miss Donnelly, Miss Cook, Mrs Schiffman and Miss Gimm, 32 Year 5 and 6 student councillors spent two hours after school ‘stringing’ the letters with the school colours and outlining them in silver thread, as well as attaching 500 beautifully decorated plates and God’s eyes to the school fence and trees.
“Dad got involved again to attach the stands to the back of each letter and then he and Chappy Jason, our school chaplain, secured them into the ground,” she said.
So after months of planning and weeks of preparation, as West School SHINES out from its oval along Pratten Street and pretty plates flutter happily in the breeze, it truly took a village!
