Pupils create mural to celebrate centenary of television legend

The 100th birthday of natural world television legend Sir David Attenborough is being celebrated in style at Anstey Junior School in Alton.

Sir David will reach his centenary on May 8 - and the activities to mark the occasion all began with some blank brickwork.

School governor Heather Eastman said: “Our school council asked all pupils to vote on a theme for a plain wall, as it had been identified as something pupils thought needed cheering up.”

The school council brought in Basingstoke artist Sian Storey to paint the outlines of a turtle and its marine environment in blue on a white background - then let the children add the colour with help from Sian.

Sian has art education qualifications and regularly works with schools and communities on inspiring murals.

Mrs Eastman added: “What a brilliant experience for all pupils, and a beautiful mural to enjoy - especially as we approach the 100th birthday of David Attenborough, who famously said ‘If we save the sea, we save our world’.”

This week pupils planted sunflowers for a class sunflower competition and did some planting in their sensory garden in planters created by the Alton Men’s Shed - and there is more to come on Sir David’s big day.

Mrs Eastman concluded: “The whole school is going to come together to plant a tree on David Attenborough’s birthday - and we will be singing Happy Birthday!”

David Attenborough redefined television programmes about the natural world with his epic 13-part BBC series Life On Earth in 1979.

He condensed the Earth’s more than 4.5 billion years of existence into a single year - and made everybody feel insignificant by pointing out that humans appeared at 11.40pm on December 31!

BBC1 is broadcasting a 90-minute tribute to him - called David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth - at 8.30pm on May 8.