A school class from Abergavenny has unveiled its latest project, bringing a formerly uninspiring part of the town to life with a bright and vibrant mural inspired by pride in their community.

The mural now stands as a lasting symbol of what young people can achieve when they are supported by their school and wider community. Depicting a bright blue dragon with symbols of what the Year 5 class at Cantref Primary consider important to their town, the display at Abergavenny Town FC is also a fine example of community organisations and talented individuals coming together to make a difference.

“This project is incredibly special, and I couldn’t be prouder of the children involved. It began simply as an idea during a class discussion, inspired by a graffiti board from a previous project exploring community, cynefin and belonging,” said Miss B, the teacher who took the lead on the project.

“When one of the pupils said, ‘I want to do that,’ it sparked something really powerful. Through our curriculum, the children are encouraged to take ownership of their learning and think about the skills they are developing, and from that process, this ambitious idea was born.”

“The mural they have created is stunning, but more importantly, it represents their creativity, teamwork and sense of belonging. I hope this is something they will remain proud of for many years to come.”

The project began as part of their “Land of Our Fathers” topic, when pupils expressed an interest in creating graffiti-style artwork after noticing a grafitti board made by their teacher during a previous project. When challenged to think about what skills they would be developing and how it connected to their topic, the idea was developed into a meaningful community project focused on Welsh identity, belonging and creative expression.

The pupils undertook a thoughtful design process, first exploring the differences between graffiti, street art and vandalism, and considering how public art impacts different members of the community and identified a suitable location.

Children were then asked to pitch their idea ‘Dragons Den Style’ to secure the initial seed funding of £300 from the school’s leadership team. Abergavenny Town Council and the Abergavenny and District Civic Society provided further financial backing for the project while Abergavenny Town FC came in to play with a space the children could use to bring their idea to life.

Further contributions from local organisations, including Cambrian Alliance, enabled the class to expand the scale of the mural. The council offered guidance on permissions and fully supported the project as part of its wider vision to enhance the local environment.

Local artist, Danielle Farrington, was enlisted to help the kids bring the artwork to life and support the young creators with new techniques such as spray painting and lettering, creating individual designs and using digital tools to refine the whole process.

After celebrating the completion of the mural, the class hosted their own assembly to explain how they brought their work to life. It was attended by the Mayor of Abergavenny, Cllr Bryony Nicholson.