Artist brightens up Southsea school's playground with murals

Artist Doug Cole painted the pictures at Wimborne Junior School in Southsea to mark the school’s centenary year and add some decorations to the plain walls.

Pupils helped design the paintings using inspirations from their lessons and the school’s key values.

The pictures range from the night sky to children playing and helping each other.

Seven-year-old Megan Greig enjoyed coming up with a design idea.

The Year 3 pupil said: ‘Thinking what to draw was really fun.

‘I liked seeing the drawings turned into paintings on the playground. They are really pretty.’

Fellow pupil Ella Jenkins agreed. The nine-year-old Year 4 student added: ‘They are really colourful. I like the one with the night sky about reaching for the stars. It is better than having the white walls and I liked that we got to join in and help.’

Artist Doug, from Drayton, took two months to complete the murals once he had the children’s designs.

Some of the pupils helped too after school and during break times.

The 42-year-old, who has been a professional artist for the past seven years, said: ‘I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

‘The pupils came up with so many different ideas and they wanted a lot of little things on it to represent what they wanted.

‘It’s great to see it finished and complete with the help of the kids.

‘They love it and the parents have said some nice things about it too so I think everyone involved is happy with how it turned out.’

Wimborne Junior, in Wimborne Road, wanted to celebrate their 100th birthday with something memorable and headteacher Carina Jacobs was pleased with the result.

She said: ‘We wanted something that represented us as a school and our values as well as mark the centenary.

‘We had 12 walls to fill and 12 classes so each one got to come up with an idea.

‘I think the mural as a whole sums us what the school stands for. It looks really great.’