Young Designers Primary School Winner

On the first page of Springfield Primary's submission read: 'Our names are Madison, Maxx, Ruby-Jae, Courtney, Callum and Dylan. We are members of the Department for Teaching and Learning with Springfield Primary School's Pupil Parliament and are in years 3, 4 and 5. We represent the views of the other children and we are constantly aiming to improve our school'.

From the beginning, we could tell that this submission was going to absolutely match the expectations of the Young Designer competition panel: creative, functional suggestions that demonstrate a positive, tangible benefit on learning and the school as a whole.

Over the last two years, Springfield has grown by 90 pupils, taking it up to almost 400. However, while the school welcomed the addition, the school's pupil parliament felt that the learning environment could perhaps do more to reflect this inclusive ethos around the school, starting with the school hall.

Leading with the impact they wanted the redecoration to have, they said: 'Currently, we all have assembly in the same hall. In order to fit all the children in, old furniture has been removed, exposing the scruffy walls behind. This hall is quite old and tired and in need of some colour and life! It is often described as 'dull' and 'boring'. The curtains are tatty and falling down. It is a place where we perform our class assemblies (which our parents watch), where governors meet, where parents attend presentations and where we celebrate our growing achievements as a school. It is the one place in our school that everybody uses and it the most neglected.'

'We want this to change. We want everyone, children and adults, to be excited to go into the hall. We want a place fit to celebrate our achievements in. We have tried to improve it by creating wonderful displays on the walls, however the space needs more than just a few display boards to really bring it to life. We want to show what life at Springfield is like when new children and parents arrive.'