Glasgow pupil beats 1500 young artists in reading champion crest competition

Yasmin Caldwell’s colourful poster triumphed out of an incredible 1500 entries from 40 schools in the competition, which was judged by experts from Glasgow School of Art.

The primary six pupil, who is 10, said: “I’m really happy – I was very surprised to hear my design won.

“I drew someone with stars in their eyes, because they are so fascinated by the book – that’s how I feel sometimes when I’m reading. I used blue because it’s the colour of the Scottish flag and tried to include characters from our history, like Scottish knights on horses, that might appear in books.”

Yasmin added: “I like reading. At the moment my favourite books are Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers stories and anything to do with animals.”

The Crest competition was launched in Glasgow schools by city author Angela Proctor to raise awareness of the Children’s Reading Champion Glasgow. The scheme aims to change the lives of children across Glasgow through a fun, innovative program of literary-based activities that encourage a love of reading.

Angela, who writes as AH Proctor, explained: “There is already a lot of fantastic work underway across Scotland to help engage children with literature, but the aim of the Children’s Reading Champion is not to provide another award for excellence in reading or writing, but instead to inspire those children who struggle to engage with literature (the ones who don’t usually enter writing competitions).”

She added: “The program of activities will launch in August with The Weegie Book of Poems, which we are compiling with the help of city pupils.

“It’s all designed to be fun and engaging for children of all abilities so that we can build confidence in those who struggle the most by breaking down barriers and ultimately helping to close the attainment gap.

“I was absolutely blown away by the calibre of the designs created by children across Glasgow, not to mention the huge engagement for the Crest competition. Over 1500 children from 40 schools sent in their concept of what the Children’s Reading Champion Glasgow should represent, all made possible because of the support and enthusiasm of our amazing teaching professionals.”

Arlene McClure, depute head at Croftfoot Primary said the whole school was delighted by Yasmin’s win.

“Yasmin is a talented and conscientious pupil and we are very proud of her,” she said. “This is a wonderful platform for us, as we are focussing on reading for enjoyment as part of our School Improvement Plan this year, and a lovely end to a difficult 12 months.

“It was a huge boost to have Angela visit the school and talk to the pupils about all the amazing activities she has planned. We are looking forward to getting involved in the next school term.

Staff from the Glasgow School of Art Communication Design Department were delighted to judge the Children’s Reading Champion competition, explained Programme Leader Katie McKee.

“We were astounded at the quality of work produced by children from across Glasgow’s primary schools,” she said. “Congratulations to all of this year’s entries. Selecting a winner was a really tough but fun job and we think we have selected one that will inspire and ignite the imaginations of young readers across the city.”

The three runners-up were Riley Parry, 10, who is in primary five at Highpark Primary; Cerys Bruce, 11, from Garrowhill Primary; and Holly Topper, who is in P7 at St Fillan’s Primary School.