Pupils promote Hexham as a family tourist destination

The community partnership’s communications and tourism officer, Rachel Ladd, worked with the school’s head of English, Andrew Leng, to set a task for Year 9 students to create visual marketing assets to appeal to a specific target audience.

To launch the project, a group of 23 pupils enjoyed a guided tour of Hexham before turning their hands to pieces of promotional literature for the partnership to use in its pre-peak summer campaign.

Highlights included exploring the dungeons at the Old Gaol and getting up close to well-known buildings, such as the Abbey, where they learned of its links to Henry VIII and dressed in the robes of traditional Augustinian Canons.

On returning to the classroom, students put their English language and graphic design skills to the test, designing collages made up of images taken during the visit, walking tour guides and even a Where’s Wally-inspired puzzle to appeal to younger visitors.

The project forms part of the school’s participation in the Archbishop of York’s Young Leaders’ Award, which is also co-ordinated by Dr Leng.

Headmaster at Westfield School Neil Walker said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for some of our pupils to take their learning out of the classroom and work on an exciting live project.

“The group thoroughly enjoyed the visit to Hexham and benefited from finding out more about the town’s heritage and offering to visitors, which was demonstrated in their designs.

“We worked closely with Hexham Community Partnership to make sure that the brief set was open to interpretation to engage the whole group, allowing for plenty of flair and variety.”

Rachel added: “It was a pleasure to show the students around Hexham and to be part of such a great project. I am really looking forward to seeing their ideas brought to life and hopefully putting them to good use in the promotion of Hexham as a tourist destination.”