St Alban’s Pupils Leave Their Mark on Peter Rabbit Trail Supporting St Oswald’s Hospice
Pupils at St Alban’s Catholic Primary School have helped bring one of the North East’s most anticipated family events to life by creating their very own Peter Rabbit sculpture for this summer’s Peter Rabbit: Tales on the Tyne art trail.
Children from every year group took part in designing and decorating the sculpture, ensuring that every pupil left their own personal mark on the project while supporting the work of St Oswald’s Hospice.
The school’s creative approach was inspired by The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, a popular children’s story that encourages creativity, confidence and self-belief. The book tells the story of a young girl who believes she cannot draw until she is encouraged to start with a single dot.
“We used the aspirational campaign The Dot as our inspiration for decorating Peter Rabbit,” said Ciara Yeoman, Headteacher at St Alban’s, which is part of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust.
“So every child in the school decorated a dot.
“We then used Mod Podge and put the dots onto the Peter Rabbit sculpture, so every child has got a mark on the sculpture itself.”
The result is a colourful and meaningful artwork that reflects the creativity of the entire school community.
The Peter Rabbit: Tales on the Tyne trail has been organised by St Oswald’s Hospice in partnership with Wild in Art, The World of Peter Rabbit and Newcastle City Council. The event celebrates both the hospice’s 40th anniversary and the 160th anniversary of beloved author and illustrator Beatrix Potter.
The trail continues a popular tradition of large-scale public art events across the city, following the success of Great North Snowdogs in 2016, Elmer’s Great North Parade in 2019 and Shaun on the Tyne in 2023.
For St Alban’s, this year marks a special milestone as the school takes part for the very first time.
“This is the first ever time St Alban’s is part of it, so I decided that it would be a great idea to get us involved,” continued Mrs Yeoman.
“Every child in the school has decorated part of it. It is then put on a sculpture trail around Newcastle. Posters are made and parents can go with their children to find the various sculptures.”
From 15 July until 14 September, Peter Rabbit sculptures of various sizes will appear across Newcastle, each uniquely designed by professional artists, schools and community groups from across the region.
While the final locations are yet to be revealed, excitement is already building among pupils eager to discover where their creation will be displayed.
“We don’t know where the trail is yet, it hasn’t been shared, so we don’t know where our rabbit will be, but hopefully somewhere exciting,” added Mrs Yeoman.
Beyond the artistic element, the project has provided pupils with an opportunity to feel connected to something much bigger than their classroom, while encouraging families to explore the city together during the summer holidays.
“It’s really important for the children to feel part of something wider, feel part of something across the city, and it’s a great idea for parents to get involved to help their children.”
Families will be able to follow the trail throughout the summer, discovering dozens of Peter Rabbit sculptures while supporting the vital work of St Oswald’s Hospice and celebrating the creativity of local schools and communities.
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