Schools' new mosaic art at Sleaford station fosters links with Islamic centre while volunteers spruce up village station

Teachers and pupils from Church Lane and Heckington schools with members of Sleaford Islamic Centre outside their new mosque opposite the station. EMN-180720-120408001

St Andrew’s Primary School in Heckington and Church Lane Primary School in Sleaford have been working with Sustrans Schools Officer Jon Moody and Sleaford ceramic artist Louise Hill to research and come up with designs for the two eye-catching mosaics officially unveiled on the pedestrian footbridge at the station last Tuesday.

They join two panels previously made by schools along the Poacher Line, between Skegness and Nottingham.

The latest schools had been working on topics which fed into the designs and a pop-up exhibition of their work was put on display in the station waiting room for the unveiling and may appear at the Ministry of Transport at an event in Westminster in September.

Heckington and Church Lane school pupils in costume beneath their new mosaics on Sleaford station. EMN-180720-120501001

Church Lane Year 5 teacher Jason Barrett explained children visited historical places and researched how Sleaford developed from Victorian to Second World War, turning that into an art project using computers, sketching and collage before incorporating that into the mosaic design.

He said: “In the mosaic we have included the new mosque and St Denys’ Church to show how multi-cultural Sleaford is.”

They developed close ties with Sleaford Islamic Centre and everyone at the unveiling was invited to look around the new building and see a display of correspondence with the school. The children dressed as evacuees for the unveiling due to the link with railways.

Heckington School class teacher Nicola Coogan said her year 4 class had done a project called ‘I Am Warrior’ based on the Romans and designed their mosaic on that theme having looked around their village and made drawings and notes of landmarks. They arrived by train dressed in Roman togas.

Volunteers supporting the scheme had held a Community Action Day at Heckington station that morning, sprucing it up ready for Heckington Show weekend.

Kaye Robinson, Community Rail Partnership Officer, said: “We had a really great turn out of local people and East MidlandsTrains volunteers. Jobs included a lick of paint on fencing, shelter cleaning, bike stand cleaning, weeding and putting bunting up.”