Romford youngster wins national art competition

St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School scoops ICT prize worth over £2,000

12.05.2011

A talented Romford youngster is celebrating today after winning more than £2,000 of ICT equipment for her school.

Ten year old Verity Walker, from St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School in Collier Row, took first place in the nationwide Happy Art Competition, after her artwork was selected from more than 7,800 entries. Verity bagged her school a brand new ClassBuddy™ laptop charging trolley from LapSafe® Products, complete with five netbooks for her classroom and her artwork displayed as a graphic on the doors. The artistic pupil also won a netbook to take home for herself.

To enter the contest, run by ICT charging and security specialist LapSafe® Products, based in Essex, Verity had to draw something that made her happy. Verity impressed judge, and current Colchester District Business Woman of the Year, Mahila Samarbaksh, with her drawing of a diverse and happy planet Earth, uniting different nationalities and abilities.

Mahila, who is also Principal of Lexden Lodge Kindergarten in Colchester, picked Verity’s drawing from a total of 7,844 entries and was overwhelmed by the level of thought and detail that went into her artwork. Mahila presented the prize at a congratulatory assembly attended by Verity’s teachers, parents and classmates.

Mahila said: “Verity’s artwork is special because of the effort she has taken to produce it and the message it conveys. She has really thought about what makes her happy and shows us that true happiness is created when people work together. The standard of entries has been exceptionally high, with the artists’ personalities shining through in their drawings. Verity has done incredibly well to come first out of so many children.”

Olivia Paton, headteacher at St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School, said: “Our school is a very happy place, full of very happy children and staff. Our children are enthusiastic learners, ready to embrace the wonders of the world, including all that new technology has to offer. Winning this competition will certainly provide our pupils with greater opportunities to use their ICT skills in a cross curricular way and make our children even happier!”

Denise Cole, director at LapSafe® Products, enjoyed looking at the children’s artwork and wishes to congratulate Verity on her success. She said: “We’ve had a phenomenal response to this competition and would like to thank all of the pupils who entered. The children of the UK are clearly very talented, but Verity’s artwork is exceptional in terms of thought and creativity. We hope the children and staff of St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School enjoy their new netbooks and the quality, mobility and safety features of the ClassBuddy™.”

The Happy Art Competition was open to all primary school and SEN pupils across the UK to celebrate the launch of the ClassBuddy™ storage and charging trolley, a safe, secure and cost-effective solution to manage mobile ICT in schools. The ClassBuddy™ trolley is part of a new range of laptop storage and charging cabinets that enable LapSafe® Products to provide a mobile ICT management solution to meet every need and budget.