Creative kids from St Mary's School will fly the flag for Fleetwood at port's Mount Pavilion

The youngsters from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School have worked with The Mount’s artist in residence Henry Iddon through workshops and creative sessions at The Mount involving photography, the rich history and heritage of The Mount, navigation and the plant and animal life to be found in the grounds.

And as a culmination of their creative talents, they have made flags which they can’t wait to see flying in the breeze when they are flown at a special event which will be attended by the Mayor of Wyre.

Henry Iddon has worked in professional photography and lens-based arts practice for 25 years and has been in residence at The Mount for the past six months.

Wyre Council were keen to provide an educational and exciting project with Henry and local schools.

Headteacher at St. Mary’s Primary School Ann Kowalska said: “Having a working artist in school has been a great opportunity for the children. They have learnt new photography and observational skills, taken a closer look at the wonder of our locality specifically, The Mount, and collaborated with Henry to respond creatively.

“Lockdown denied us these opportunities due to the restrictions….it is fantastic to be able to enrich the curriculum again with collaborations such as these.”

One of the Year 4 students said, “I learned a lot about the history of cameras and I really enjoyed it.” Another Year 4 student added, “I learned how the camera chemicals affected the motion of the picture.”

Henry said: “It’s been really great to work with St. Marys Primary during my residency at The Mount, seeing the way the pupils have engaged and learned about the history of Fleetwood and The Mount by using photographic techniques has been fantastic. There’s no doubt that the young people have benefited from learning through hands on creativity.”

Henry has worked both commercially for clients ranging from BBC World News, Manchester United and various UK Government Departments as well as on his own self-motivated arts practice.

Councillor Lynne Bowen portfolio holder for Leisure, Health and Community Engagement at Wyre Council said: ““It is great to be able to provide these activities and offer opportunities for local schools to engage with the arts whilst discovering more about the heritage and history of The Mount.

“Henry has delivered some wonderfully informative sessions that we are sure the schoolchildren will have enjoyed immensely and learnings that will stay with them as they move forward in their education.”

Organisers say the whole project has been a terrific success and a great initiative to offer the school after the impact of lockdown and a wonderful return to some exciting extra-curricular activities that are very enriching and informative for students.

Around 80 schoolchildren from St. Mary’s will attend the flag-raising event at The Mount Pavilion in Fleetwood on Wednesday March 30 at 10.30am. Everyone will be able to see them as the flags will be on display for them to show to their family and friends for four weeks throughout the Easter holidays.

To follow Henry’s work visit his Instagram page at www.instagram.com/henryiddon/ He can also be contacted at [email protected]