Moreton Hall’s Year 9 chemistry student Jennabai Kassam has won the school’s Sculpture Prize in this year’s competition sponsored by The British Ironwork Centre. Second place was awarded to, Emma Barnes, who learned to weld in order to create her sculpture of a horse made from nuts and bolts.

The competition organised by Rebecca Turnbull, chemistry teacher at Moreton Hall, in collaboration with her colleagues Hannah Davies, chemistry teacher and Ruth Mills Head of Art was designed to challenge the creativity of its chemistry students by producing a sculpture inspired by their topic of ‘metals’ and followed previous visits to The British Ironwork Centre.

The judges were impressed by Jennabai‘s sculpture depicting electricity pylons in the form of an elephant. The use of different geometric shapes clearly referred to Jennabai’s extensive research into the conductivity of metals.

Special mentions are also given to Holly Longfellow’s atomic sculptural form, Nell Pinney’s exquisite steel-reinforced plasticine head, Katy Yang’s representation of isolation using tin foil, Anya Hartwig’s broken chain, and Ella Lewis’ use of text with her tin foil man, reminding us all to ‘chase our dreams before they run away.’

Ruth Mills commented, “Working from home, the Year 9 pupils enjoyed some team-teaching from Art and Science before getting stuck in. Welding, folding and rolling metal. or metal-like materials from home, with a bit of help from friends and family, allowed them to really think about how the properties of metal can inspire their Art.”

The British Ironwork Centre based in Oswestry is a creative enterprise showcasing the very best in British sculpture and worldwide art. Renowned for its creation of impactful metal art pieces they greatly influenced the project and generously donated sculptured trophies for the competition winner and runner up.