The best seat in the house! NI primary school to have its Coronation bench design brought to life at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens during the Coronation celebrations in May.

A south Belfast primary school is one of only 15 schools from across the UK to have its artwork chosen for a special installation during the Coronation.

Blythefield Primary School in Sandy Row was selected as one of the winners of the national Coronation Benches competition, selected from 1,500 entries.

The school’s winning entry will be developed with global public art producers Wild in Art and installed at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens during the Coronation celebrations; artwork from schools on the UK mainland will be installed at the Tower of London

Children and young people designed their own illustrated Coronation benches, exploring their hopes for the future during the reign of His Majesty King Charles III.

The winning designs share some insight into what matters to children and young people today, with themes ranging from unity and peace, to resilience and care for the environment.

Principal of Blythefield Primary School, Mrs Catherine Roulston, said: “I am so proud of all the pupils, they worked so hard and dedicated weeks of their time to this project. I have watched children’s confidence grow and hidden talents emerge. We are all overjoyed in school and as a community to win such a magnificent competition.”

Art-coordinator of the project Serena Craig added: “We want to encourage the public to visit Hillsborough Castle and Gardens during the summer to admire such an amazing and artistic creation to celebrate the Coronation, all down to the amazing pupils of Blythefield.”

The 15 winning benches were selected by a panel of judges at the Tower of London, including representatives from Historic Royal Palaces, Kids in Museums, Young V&A and the Group for Education in Museums.

Ceri Fox, senior learning producer at Historic Royal Palaces, said: “It was fantastic to have such an overwhelming response from schools to our national competition, and to see so many thoughtful and imaginative designs.”

Caroline Marcus, chair of the Group for Education in Museums (GEM), said: “It is wonderful to see young people given such an opportunity to contribute their voices to a significant moment in history, conveying their hopes for this new era at the Tower of London and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens. I hope that when the winning schools visit this summer they feel incredibly proud to see their values represented at these famous landmarks.”