CHILDREN at a North-East school celebrated the coronation of King Charles III by creating their own portraits of the new monarch.

The official coronation portraits of the newly-crowned King Charles and Queen Camilla have already been unveiled, but pupils at Skerne Park Academy, in Darlington, have been busy creating their own designs, with some paying tribute to His Majesty’s well-established love of nature and sustainability.

Rebecca Saxton, Skerne Park Academy’s history subject lead, who led the initiative, said: “The coronation was a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate to the children that history isn’t something that happened a long time ago; it’s a real, evolving thing that they’re living through.

“The official portrait of King Charles will be preserved as part of the record of his reign, so we challenged the children to create their own commemorative portraits.

“The results have been outstanding! It’s been a joy to see them use so many different styles, from paints, to sketches, to mixed-media and collage, many utilising natural or recycled materials as a nod to the King’s interest in the environment.”

The works of art will now be displayed at the school for staff and pupils to enjoy.

As well as creating the portraits, Skerne Park Academy marked the coronation with a special assembly, and pupils wore red, white, and blue to school the day before the event.

“It’s quite remarkable,” Rebecca added. “These children have seen a surprising amount of significant historical events already in the lives: the pandemic, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and now the crowning of King Charles.

“We’ve been making an effort to help them connect with these events in a wider historical context, and help them understand that history is something that happens to all of us all of the time.”