Over the last two weeks of term, a group of nine Year 7 pupils have been working hard in their lunchtimes to create a scarecrow at school for the Chalford Scarecrow Trail. This popular and fun trail takes place from Saturday 7th to Monday 9th April 2018 (10am-4pm) and the route starts at Christ Church Primary School, near the bottom of Old Neighbourhood, Chalford.

The character created by our pupils is called Oba the Octopus and is one of 60 scarecrows in Chalford for the weekend of 7-9 April. The octopus idea came about after we salvaged an old spherical light cover that made a perfect head shape. The pupils chose the name Oba, meaning River Goddess because they wanted a name connected to water that also starts with the letter ‘O’. Our pupils particularly wanted to focus on the idea of caring for our waterways and oceans. Oba will be carrying a marine conservation message and has been created using the types of waste plastic that often end up in our seas. Although the signs are laminated, all other plastic used is waste material.

The group have had limited time to create their octopus during lunchtimes and have worked brilliantly as a team. There were times when it didn’t look like things were going to go to plan. At one point she looked quite scary but the group were resilient and resourceful and, in the end, created a scarecrow full of character and humour. She even comes with her own joke, but you might have to pay her visit to find out the punchline!

The group have grown quite attached to Oba and, in the final creative session, were quite emotional about her send-off, taking lots of Oba selfies to help them remember her. Many of them will be going to see their special scarecrow in the Chalford Scarecrow Trail. I know that they would love it if others went to see her too!

Miss Rubringer, ICT Teacher and crafter