Vibrant rebrand for Newbuildings PS

In addition to a vibrant new, illuminated school sign at the front gate on the side of the A5 as you drive through Newbuildings village, the pupils have been rigged out in a lively looking new uniform of navy shirts, with eye-catching mid-blue sweatshirts, grey skirts or trousers and grey/black socks and shoes.

The colour scheme has been reflected on the all-new website, and in time the corporate image will wash right through the school’s identity, from the letterheaded paper to the entrance and exit from the school grounds.

It’s all about self-esteem and belief, according to the principal, Chris Scholes, who revealed that the new school motto was ‘Believe and Achieve’.

“We want to inspire all our pupils to believe in themselves and their abilities and that they can achieve throughout their whole lives. We want children to begin their school life with a high sense of self-esteem and we believe that building block is essential for being successful in school and in life,” he said.

Explaining the new school logo, he said it incorporated the River Foyle and the hills surrounding the school, and was based on the panorama from the crest of the Old Strabane Road before the descent into the village.

“I wanted the river and the hills to be included and I got some ideas for the logo from the kids before I spoke to local artist Bridget Murray, who came up with the final design, and it was one of the kids who came up with the new motto ‘Believe and Achieve’.“I want the kids to know that they don’t have to be something that they are not, I want them to believe in who they are, and I think the principal of a school has a great influence on a school, because a school is like a person and can have it’s own identity and self-esteem and that will have an impact on the staff and pupils,” Mr Scholes said.

He continued: “The new uniform has been pointed out and identified locally in a positive way and has been a talking point in the community. I chose to do this because you don’t get that many opportunities for a fresh start, and I felt the old uniform with the phoenix motif had lost it’s identity within the community. The logo was linked to the raising to the ground of Goldsmith’s Hall and the new building taking place here, giving the village its name, but that is not relevant to this generation of children in the same way that the river and the hills are. I think this is a beautiful area and the new logo is a celebration of who we are and where we are located.”

Mr Scholes said the children loved the new uniform: “What you notice as you walk into each classroom is the impact that it has had. It makes them feel good about themselves. There is a definite feel good factor that allows them to say ‘This is us’.”

Freelance artist Bridget Murray, who refined the designs put forward by the principal and the students, said: “I took the ideas and simplified them with the river and the hills in graduating colours. The idea in doing so was to make it child-friendly, and I chose the new font for the typeface to reflect more closely that of a child’s handwriting”.