DELTA ENVIRONMENT John Whitgift: Pupils show off tractor

A tractor sculpture made from recycled materials won plaudits and an award for John Whitgift Academy in a competition at the Lincolnshire Show.

The Key Stage 3 students entered its Schools’ Challenge project, inspiring young people to gain a better understanding of Lincolnshire’s rich agricultural history, horticulture and landbased activities.

Organised by the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society, 10 challenges were designed to link food, farming, the community, the environment and sustainability. The JWA students focused on ‘Art from the Heart’.

They met regularly after school to create mood boards and mindmaps, research that led them to a fantastic visit to Uncle Henry’s Farm near Gainsborough with Michelle Palmer.

They were shown how the farm works in a sustainable way, growing its crops, which feed the pigs whose waste was used as a source of energy to power its restaurant and the farm.

They were taught about how sugar beet is grown and how it is used by the brand Silver Spoon. They were inspired by this and used spoons in their sculpture to represent the way British farmers should be supported.

They were in awe over the size of the machinery at the farm, which helped them decide on a tractor as a sculpture.

They left Uncle Henry’s with a new outlook on their career choices too, particularly the girls who had thought farming was male dominated.

They approached builders at JWA and requested wood that would otherwise have been thrown away for their tractor. The builders kindly cut it down to size and this formed the chassis.

They wanted to create a bin to encourage recycling and started collecting plastic bottles to decorate it.

They saw students throwing away plastic bottles and thought if they saw a more exciting way to recycle it might help to encourage them to be more ecofriendly.

Staff hunted down spoons, used to decorate the tractor to represent Silver Spoon.

Martin Robinson, of Sturmec Ltd, was appointed ambassador for the project, visiting school, watching the students’ presentation and giving great feedback.

They were anxious about presenting their sculpture at the Lincolnshire Show but made a massive impression on the judges for their passionate delivery and enthusiasm for the farming industry.

The judges’ positive feedback encouraged them to promote their stand to the public in the hope they would vote for them in the People’s Award. They took the opportunity while at the show to visit stalls and engaged in rock climbing, wheelchair basketball and a virtual reality escape room. They loved seeing all the farm animals too.

They met with representatives from the Armed Forces – including the RAF’s parachute team who were happy to sign autographsand large engineering companies such as BAE Systems, who inspired them to reach out when deciding future careers.

The sculpture was given an Award of Commendation and Nunny’s Farm in Grimsby requested they take it to their farm to encourage visitors to recycle their plastics. This was the best result of all. The farm wants the team to deliver the presentation to staff. Paul Tuffnell, Operational Lead for CEIAG, said: “I received great feedback from surrounding schools who spoke very highly of them all, how articulate they were and passionate about their sculpture,” he said.

“I highly recommend the Schools’ Challenge project - it’s been a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Special thanks to Michelle Palmer, Holly Kendall and Steph Walsh and all the students for their continued dedication into these projects.”