WELLINGTON Prep School has been selected from hundreds of primary and prep schools nationwide to participate in a prestigious exhibition at the National Gallery in London.

Pupils at the school submitted work to the Take One Picture initiative, the National Gallery’s scheme which aims to inspire a lifelong love of art and learning by promoting the role of visual arts within education.

Each year, the National Gallery encourages primary school teachers and children to focus on one painting from the collection and respond creatively to its themes and subject matter, historical context or composition. Last year, the selected painting was An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby.

“Children across the Prep School from Nursery to Year 6 examined and discussed the painting,” said headmaster Adam Gibson. “They came up with some fantastically creative interpretations, from a focus on the fabric and buttons, to the idea of incarceration or asphyxiation, themes around science, space and exploration, and also our control and impact on the environment.”

The final pieces of work were displayed in a ‘pop-up’ gallery in Wellington Prep School, then submitted to the National Gallery in October. Photographs of the children’s work will form part of the digital display in the National Gallery’s exhibition from May 9 to August 11 and staff and pupils will attend a private view in May.

Mr Gibson added: “We are delighted that we have been selected to be part of this fabulous exhibition, and we are proud of the pupils who have been so creative. This is the first year we have participated in this initiative and we are all very excited at the prospect of national acclaim.”