PUPILS at St Mary's Infants School, Marlborough, have been highly commended in Artworks' national Young Artist Of The Year awards.

Almost 500 schools entered the competition with 40,000 pupils taking part. St Mary's was one of four schools to receive a highly commended certificate of merit and there were ten winners in the category they entered Working With Resources.

The year two group used wood from Savernake Forest for their entry.

Headteacher Sandra Jones said the budding artists at St Mary's were inspired to enter the national art competition, run by London's Tate Modern Gallery, by the work of artist Andy Goldsworthy.

But their award-winning sculpture did not stand the test of time. Mrs Jones said: "The sculpture was not intended to be permanent as it echoes Andy Goldsworthy's own approach to art. The wind blew it down the next morning."

The judges observed that teachers were making better use of contemporary artists and resources and said they were impressed by the integrity of the St Mary's piece and that the pupils who took part had retained their interest in art.

The school received a signed limited edition print commissioned for the competition from the internationally renowned artist Amish Kapoor. Mrs Jones said: "We are looking for innovative ways to build on the success of Artworks to increase creativity across the curriculum."