School goes street with graffiti art to inspire exam candidates
A SCHOOL has paid a graffiti street artist to brighten up its exam hall as pupils prepare to sit the first summer exams in Wales for three years.
David Blackwell, head teacher of St Richard Gwyn Catholic High in Barry, said he wanted to brighten up the school’s “barn”, where exams are held, to inspire pupils after a tough few years with Covid school closures and lockdowns.
The school brought in graffiti artist Tee2Sugars to do the main mural of sporting icons, with fellow artist “Hass” brought in to paint animals.
The first summer exams since 2019 are due to start on Monday, May 16. Exams for the last two years have been cancelled due to Covid restrictions and were replaced with teacher-assessed grades.
Mr Blackwell said: “We wanted to create an inspiring environment for pupils sitting exams.
“The barn was tired and worn so we felt that reinvigorating it would not only give a boost to our PE department, but simultaneously help our pupils sitting exams to work in a place where they felt valued.
“We want to ensure all our pupils feel calm and inspired to perform to the best of their ability in all exams. The pupils decided on the sporting icons that they felt were an inspiration in their lives over the last 10-15 years, so using them on the walls around them during exams will hopefully help to drive them to push themselves as hard as they can to fulfil their potential.”
He said plans for a school rebuild had been held up by the pandemic.
“We are the last secondary school in the Vale of Glamorgan to have re-build, which is disappointing.
“We have spent money on this to help make pupils feel valued. I am adamant our children can have the best environment we can give them.
“The barn was probably the most depressing part of the building. We came across the work of Tee2Sugars, a street artist from Rhondda, and asked him to paint it.”
Pupils were asked who inspired them and who they wanted depicted on the mural and they chose basketball star Michael Jordan, runner Usain Bolt and swimmer Michael Phelps. The mural also includes the school’s motto and values.