Riverside Primary Pupils Celebrate Reindeer Trail Design Win

A colourful reindeer created by pupils from Riverside Primary School has been named the winner of Stirling’s Reindeer Trail.

The reindeer, which had pride of place in the Thistles during the festive season, was voted the most popular design by competition entrants asked to choose their favourite reindeer. The school was presented with a £200 cheque to spend on art supplies by Mags Fenner, Project Manager of Go Forth Stirling, which organised the initiative.

Riverside’s Acting Headteacher Michelle MacPhee was delighted with the prize. She said: “The children loved taking part in the Reindeer Trail design competition and worked very hard together as a team. It’s a fantastic initiative and we’re thrilled that their creativity has been celebrated and recognised.”

The striking reindeer was designed by a group of five children – Poppy Mawby, 10, Ella Jane Slater, 10, Isabella McGeough, 9, Alexander McQuaker, 9, and seven-year-old Connor Jones. They named him Ralph and painted him in the school house colours which are green, blue, red and yellow.

The children are part of an art club run by SLA Fay Thomson who oversaw the project. She said: “The children created their individual designs on the reindeer templates provided and then we picked bits from each one and brought them all together to use on the final design. They enjoyed coming up with their design and were then delighted to make it through to the next round and have the actual reindeer delivered to school for them to paint. They named him Ralph the Riverside Reindeer and it was great to see him in place in the Thistles and amazing to be the overall winner. It’s a great project for schools and the children got a lot out of it. We’re now looking forward to spending the voucher on some acrylic paints, paintbrushes and watercolours.”

The Riverside reindeer was among the collection of 20 life-size reindeer which featured in the windows of a range of Stirling businesses during the run-up to Christmas creating a festive atmosphere and fun for families. Families were encouraged to pick up a map and track down all 20 of the animals which were designed and painted by schools across the Stirling area.

The 2019 Reindeer Trail was organised by Go Forth Stirling in a bid to increase footfall around the city and will return for a third year this festive season. Project Manager Mags Fenner said: “I thought the Riverside reindeer was a fantastic collaboration between the group of children and was so pleased to present them with their prize. The Reindeer Trail has once again proved a great success and it was wonderful to see how schools embraced the idea to come up with unique designs and decoration.”