29 Dec 2025
Talented pupils at Skyswood Primary School have been praised by the judges of TV show The Great Pottery Showdown.
Signed certificates were sent to each member of the school’s Pottery Club, together with a letter recognising their skills.
The idea of a ceramics club was introduced by the headteacher, Bob Bridle, back in 2021, when the children returned to a full-time bubble-free education after the pandemic.
He explained: “I wanted to do something a bit different that would be special for the children on their full-time return from lockdown. The Pottery Club has proven so popular with our Year 6 pupils that we’ve kept it going ever since.”
This term children have been introduced to a wide range of slab-building techniques, created some impressive pinch pots, modelled gargoyles and Christmas snowmen, and used slip-casting with decorative techniques such as resin-resist, slip trailing and ‘Jackson Pollock style spattering’.
They have also made ceramic masks, experimented with stoneware glazes, earthenware glazes and using glass as a decorative technique.
Their final session of the term was particularly good fun, with a smoke firing. The children made pots with clays that were tolerant of thermal shock and experimented with natural colourants such as banana skins, coffee grains, seaweed and even horse manure. Their smoke firing pots were inspired by local potter, Kathy Osmond, who joined the children at an exhibition displaying work alongside fellow potter Mike Hardy.
