Riverside Ralph wins trail prize
A colourful reindeer created by pupils from Riverside Primary School has been named the winner of Stirling’s Reindeer Trail.
The reindeer, which had pride of place in the Thistles during the festive season, was voted the most popular design by competition entrants asked to choose their favourite reindeer.
The school was presented with a £200 cheque to spend on art supplies by Mags Fenner, project manager of Go Forth Stirling, which organised the initiative.
Riverside’s acting headteacher Michelle MacPhee was delighted with the prize. She said: “The children loved taking part in the Reindeer Trail design competition and worked very hard together as a team.
“It’s a fantastic initiative and we’re thrilled that their creativity has been celebrated and recognised.”
The striking reindeer was designed by a group of five children – Poppy Mawby (10), Ella Jane Slater (10), Isabella McGeough (9), Alexander McQuaker (9), and Connor Jones (7).
They named him Ralph and painted him in the school house colours which are green, blue, red and yellow.
The children are part of an art club run by Support for Learning Assistant (SLA) Fay Thomson who oversaw the project. She said: “The children created their individual designs on the reindeer templates provided and then we picked bits from each one and brought them all together to use on the final design.
“They named him Ralph the Riverside Reindeer and it was great to see him in place in the Thistles and amazing to be the overall winner.
“It’s a great project for schools and the children got a lot out of it. We’re now looking forward to spending the voucher on some acrylic paints, paintbrushes and watercolours.”
The Riverside reindeer was among the collection of 20 life-size reindeer which featured in the windows of a range of Stirling businesses during the run-up to Christmas. Families were encouraged to track down all 20 of the animals which were designed and painted by schools across the area.