Lyngford Park Primary School pupils create sculptures for Composite Prime competition

Lower Key Stage 2 students at Lyngford Park Primary School in Priorswood created a fish, an octopus and the Taunton Town Football Club peacock from various bottle tops.

The sculptures will enter the 'Message in a bottle top' competition, run by Composite Prime who are manufacturers of decking made from recycled plastics.

If they win, Lyngford Park will win £5,000 worth of playground equipment.

Artist and art lead at Lyngford Park, Nicole Stearn, said she was 'overwhelmed' by the amount of bottle tops collected over the Easter holidays.

"This meant we were able to produce not just one but three sculptures and get the whole school involved," she said.

"The children have been creative throughout - coming up with initial design ideas, collecting and sorting tops and constructing the sculptures using waste materials and bottle tops.

"I am absolutely thrilled with end results and the impact the colourful animals have in Lyngford Park’s reception area.

Madeleine Johnstone and Toby Wilson from KS1

"The project has engaged so many of the students whose wonderful ideas inspired the creation of the octopus with tentacles entwined with plastic rubbish, the Taunton Town football playing peacock and the angler fish whose lure illuminates its mouth full of plastic pollution. "Alongside promoting a vital environmental message this project supports the student's well-being and self-esteem building confidence and a love for learning creatively.”

The art project was organised to complement the pupil's lessons which centred around living things and their habitats.

The Lower Key Stage 2 children were learning about the effects of plastic pollution, and were inspired to create the sculptures out of plastic bottle tops.

Aidan Collard, Maryam Bajwa and Isle Vargas from Years 3 and 4, KS2

Isle Vargas, from Lower Key Stage 2, said: “We made an angler fish with rubbish in its mouth because we learned about the huge problem of animals in the ocean choking on plastic.”

Josh Wiltshire and Mya Pollard and Mia Durham-Frounks added: “We wanted to make a peacock in honour of Taunton Town Football club as they’ve just been promoted.

"We hope our sculptures will make people think about chucking their plastic in the bin and send a positive message to them to reduce the amount of plastic they use and recycle the plastic they do use.”