Casio teams up with CCE to showcase young peoples’ creativity

Casio and leading national education charity Culture, Creativity and Education (CCE) have announced Thameside Junior School as the winner of Bright Minds, the nationwide competition for schools to demonstrate the creativity of their pupils and teaching staff.

The competition, which asked classes to submit a piece of digital creative work, was open to every school in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The winning creation was to be exhibited between July and September at Southbank Centre as part of their Festival of Britain 60th anniversary celebrations.

Thameside Junior School's film, The Butterfly Lion, is based on the Michael Morpugo book of the same name and was produced by the children. The work will be displayed at Southbank Centre and form part of the Schools of Creativity pavilion, opening today as part of the Festival of Britain 60th anniversary celebrations at an event featuring Jude Kelly OBE and MOBO winner Akala. The school will also receive £3,500 of Casio technology for the winning classroom.
The entries were judged by a panel including representatives from Casio and CCE, as well as TES reporter Helen Ward, Education Executive editor Julia Dennison, and Wayne Hemingway, founder of fashion label Red or Dead and curator of the Vintage exhibition at the Southbank Centre this summer.
 
Wayne Hemingway commented on the winning film: "The Butterfly Lion is a clear winner for me. The creative execution is individual and challenging and the combination of graphics, treatment of the film and the use of traditional media like paper cutouts gives the work depth."

"The film was so eye catching, and it was obvious that a lot of thought has gone into doing more than just an adaptation," added Helen Ward. The standard of the entries was so high that the judging team also chose two runners up from the entries - which came from more than 50 schools around the country. The runners up will receive Casio projectors for their classrooms to help them bring their creativity to life.

Rehana Mughal, Creative Producer at Southbank Centre, who has created the Schools of Creativity pavilion, added: "I am so impressed by the imagination of the young people who have created such amazing work. Every entry to the competition is testament to how the combination of creativity and schoolwork can really allow children to grow and develop."

Nieve Cavanagh, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Casio said: "We see ourselves as supporting creativity in the classroom through our innovative technology, and love hearing how children use our products to get the most out of learning. We're looking forward to seeing the winning entry projected in all its glory as part of the Festival of Britain anniversary celebrations, and want to congratulate every school on turning out such brilliant work."