Paul Wong shows Barry Skillin "Creatures of Punk"

WALLACE and Gromit creator Nick Park could soon have some competition at Carr Hill.

Year 10 students recently took part in an animation workshop learning how to make animated characters and even recorded their own short films.

Working with animation expert Barry Skillin from Animation Nation in Manchester, the students were able to really develop their skills and produce amazing work. 

The painstaking process resulted in features of up to 30 seconds being produced as each minute movement by a character has to be recorded.

Paul Wong was one of the students taking part.

He said: “It’s been great. I like art anyway but this has been a fantastic thing to do. We have all really enjoyed it.”

And Mr Skillin said he was very impressed with the students.

He said: “I spend a lot of my time running workshops with young people and it’s great to see them grasp it so well.

“What they can produce in a day is very impressive. It’s a very slow process but when these guys get started it is amazing to see what they can do. It is always a success and they have all done brilliantly.”

Some of the students' work is pictured below but if you would like to see the students' Wacky Races video in action click HERE.

 KIERAN KEMP - TOP UK DESIGNER

YEAR 10 student Kieran Kemp has scooped top prize in a national engineering design competition.

The BAE Systems Schools Challenge asked hundreds of children from schools around the country to design and produce a piece of scrap art using recycled materials.

Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 designed and made entries but it was Kieran’s squid invention using scrap material including off-cuts of sheet metal, tubing and electrical wiring that wowed the judges.

Year 10 student Kieran said: “When they said I’d won first place in the whole country I thought it was great.

“I really enjoy design and it was good just being given some scrap and having to create something from it.”

Anna Swallow, from the judging panel, said: "The standard of entry from Carr Hill was extremely high - it was very hard to choose a winner but Kieran's purple creation stood out as it really looked like a piece of art - not just a model, and we felt that it really fulfilled the brief."

Kieran won £200 in ICT vouchers for Carr Hill and was presented with a winning trophy by BAE.

Well done Kieran!