Children at Southwater Junior Academy have been getting festive by participating in a colouring competition to win a personalised Christmas design on a doormat. The winners have now been announced as Harriet Thiim, aged 8, who was victorious for the Lower School and Leila Hawkins, aged 10, winning for the Upper school. The chosen designs have been cleverly turned into Christmas doormats, one for each winner to take home and one for the front and rear entrances of the new show home at the Berkeley Homes development, Broadacres, in Horsham.

The two winners were chosen from the entire school which has almost 480 pupils, spanning four year groups, with Years 3 and 4 in the Junior category, and Years 5 and 6 in the Senior category. The competition, sponsored by Berkeley Homes, was to design a Christmas-themed doormat, with the winning designs to take pride of place at the show home at Broadacres, which is directly across the road from the school.

Jeremy Chapman, Managing Director at Berkeley Homes (Southern) East, comments: “A huge thank you to all the pupils and staff at Southwater Junior Academy for getting involved in this competition.  There is clearly some real talent at the school and it was a very hard decision to choose just two winners.  All the children should be very proud of themselves.

“As the school is just over the road from our development, Broadacres, we are very keen to work with them and develop good neighbourly relations.  In October, we hosted their poppy display which marked the celebration of 100 years since the end of the First World War, and we will continue to foster a good relationship with the school, its staff and pupils.”

Headteacher of Southwater Junior Academy, Mrs Rebecca Toogood, comments: “The staff at Southwater Junior Academy are very proud of the creative talent that the children so often display, there has been a lot of thought and imagination which has gone into so many of the designs.  The use of art in the class room is invaluable for the advancement of our pupils and it is fun for them to be able to work on small individual projects like this.  I would personally like to congratulation the two winners Harriet and Leila.”

Berkeley Homes works with the community to enhance neighbourhoods and amenities, as well as encouraging local people to get involved with events and projects to inspire community spirit. Set in a charming village location, Broadacres is situated in Southwater, West Sussex, well placed with good transport connections and excellent schools, such as Southwater Junior Academy; within walking distance of the development.

For further information on Broadacres, call 01403 334 000 or visit  www.broadacres-southwater.co.uk

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