Our school is celebrating after winning a Home Office national Anti-Vandalism competition.

More than 250 schools, from around the country, entered the competition, and Bishop Barrington’s entry, The Geraldine Kyle Show DVD about the devastating consequences of an act of criminal damage, scooped the first prize of a certificate and £2,000 for the school to use to improve the school environment or to develop our campaign.

The competition judges commented that the Geraldine Kyle Show was an original concept which was likely to appeal to peers and successfully explored the impact and consequences of vandalism in a way that was both entertaining and engaging.

The chat show was devised by a year 9 drama group, with the help of English and drama Helen Smith, whose idea it was to base the drama on a Jeremy Kyle style of chat show. Students worked on the script and played all the characters in the chat show.

They were thrilled to learn they had won the national competition. Today, Tuesday, July 17, Gary Cawley, criminal damage policy lead for the Government Office for the North East, visited our school to make the presentation, on behalf of the Home Office and Government Office for the North East.

The presentation was held at a special year 10 assembly, during which the award winning DVD was shown on a big screen.

Mr Cawley said. “We, at Government Office, are delighted that the winners of such a significant Home Office challenge are from our region. The work which the staff and students put into producing the show and the DVD has obviously paid off as the final product is of exceptionally high standard and gets the key messages across in an entertaining but easily accessible way.”

He added: “Everybody involved should be very proud indeed.”

The presentation was also attended by Durham County drugs and alcohol advisor, Patrick Hargreaves; Kirsty Wilkinson, of Wear and Tees Community Safety Partnership which provided funding for the DVD as part of its Don’t Damage Your Future Campaign; and local police officer, Acting Chief Inspector Ian Butler, who spoke about the damaging effects of criminal damage on people’s lives.

Head Teacher, Bruce Guthrie, said he was delighted for everyone involved. “This DVD has won national recognition. It is a fantastic achievement. All involved should feel very proud, it is just tremendous.”

English and drama teacher, Helen Smith, praised the students, who are now in year 10, for their achievement.

“I am so proud of my little drama group, who put it together. They worked hard and really enjoyed taking part.”

She also paid tribute to Les Watts, educational arts consultant, who filmed and edited the DVD, which was originally made to be used as part of a teaching pack, called Whose Fault is it Anyway? The teaching pack is being shown in schools throughout County Durham and other parts of the country.

The Home Office will use the material from Bishop Barrington’s DVD, together with material from nine other schools, which gained merit awards, to develop publicity and teaching materials on the issue of criminal damage. It is hoped the video will also appear on Youtube in order to widen the audience and appeal.

Congratulations to the cast of students: Geraldine Kyle, played by Georgina Sutcliffe; vandal, Ryan Metcalfe; vandal’s mother, Stevie Devlin; victim’s mother, Amanda McCombie; psychologist, Natalie Atkinson; school teacher, Ashleigh Aldworth; businessman, Bradley Hope; council member, Laura Bartle; train driver, Kirsty McGurk; security guards, Sarah Marie Yorke and Frances Murphy; audience, Emma Greaves and Vicky Watson.

English teacher, Helen Smith, pictured with students, who played leading roles in the DVD film.