Myerscough prepare Show Gardens for Southport Flower Show

The prestigious annual event later this month will once again seen Myerscough College bring to life the two winning entries in the annual Schools Design-a-Garden Competition.

The competition is for junior school pupils in years 3, 4, 5 and 6, with a bumper year of entries from across the region. The aim of the competition was to design an attractive, eco-friendly garden, with ‘The Curious Garden’ as the theme, incorporating the use of plants, colours, recycled matter – and a lot of imagination.

With the generous sponsorship of the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity, the winning designs will be built into ‘real’ gardens for the Southport Flower Show by Myerscough College's work-based staff and apprentices.

The two winners are James McManus, from SS Peter + Paul's Catholic Primary School, Mawdesley  and Nicole Harvey, from Holy Cross Primary School, Oldham. Each school will receive £500 for their grounds and each winning designer will receive a certificate and £50. There were also 10 runners up, each of whom receives a certificate and £50 for their school grounds. 

The 10 runners-up were:
Shamal Harave - Merchant Taylors Junior Boys' School, Liverpool
Anna Flattery - Ravenbank Community Primary School, Lymm
Clare Turner - Farnborough Road Junior School, Southport
Hannah Waite - Helmshore Primary School, Rossendale
Yasmin Lodal - Helmshore Primary School, Rossendale
Louise Berry - Simonstone St Peters C of E Primary School, Burnley
Scarlett Camm - Simonstone St Peters C of E Primary School, Burnley
Thomas Meldrum - SS Peter + Paul's Catholic Primary School, Mawdesley
Laycie Martindale - Mere Brow CE Primary School, Preston
Eve Jenkins - Withnell Fold Primary School, Chorley

Tricia Coulthard, the Headteacher at SS Peter + Paul's Catholic Primary School, said: “James McManus is a Year 5 pupil in a mixed aged Year 5/Year 6 class. The class have been entering the competition for a number of years and have achieved runner up status on three occasions but this is our first winning design!

‘’We have spoken to the children about the money which James has won for the school and they would like to replace some of our rather 'tired' benches which are on the playground and buy some more shrubs for our Peace Garden and outdoor area.”

Sarah Walker, from Holy Cross Primary School, said: “Within Year 5, the children have recently been learning about the environment and, in particular, man-made and natural changes. As part of a homework task, the children were asked to design an environmentally friendly garden, in order to enter the Southport Flower Show Competition.

‘’As a school, we were thrilled that Nicole's design was chosen as the winning entry. With Nicole's expert help, we will spend the money on improving our own outdoor environment, whilst being as environmentally friendly as possible.’’

The winners, runners-up, their families and teachers have been invited to the presentation ceremony at the Southport Flower Show. The prizes and certificates will be presented during the event, and then the gardens will be on display during the rest of the show and always receive a great deal of attention from the tens of thousands of visitors who attend every year.