A PRIMARY school has marked an annual celebration of peace with a day of symbolic crafting.

Pupils of all ages at Chowbent Primary School in Atherton created a giant peace dove puppet and mini ones made from reused materials before letting them fly to celebrate charity Roots and Shoots’ Day of Peace.

The young crafters also wrote peaceful pledges on the wings of the large dove, made from white sheets sewn together, as well as smaller ones made from paper plates.

The celebration was established in 2004 by the charity’s founder primatologist Dr Jane Goodall to promote peace in communities around the world with dove puppets soaring in nearly 100 places including the Rome Colisuem, a Mongolia monastery, the base of Mount Fuji and the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro.   

Teaching assistant and event organiser Stephen Haynes said: “It was an amazing experience.

“When I got a phone call from Roots and Shoots asking if we would like to host the Peace Day celebration this year we jumped at the chance.

“It was really nice to see the pledges pupils made on the day which shows it meant something different to every child here.

“We all worked together to make the day very special and we rallied round to get friends and colleagues involved which was wonderful to see."

The Laburnum Street school was first introduced to Roots and Shoots five years ago and since then they have won a silver award in a competition organised by the charity for the most improved school ground before developing a larger eco committee of around 12 pupils.

Earlier this year, pupils at the school and their families built a greenhouse out of 1,000 recycled pop bottles with Chowbent representatives invited to London to present the eco-friendly benefits of their invention to a panel of judges as well as picking up a gold award from Root and Shoots along with nine other schools.

Stephen added: “I cannot thank Roots and Shoots enough for giving our school the chance to make a difference and we have been more than happy to be involved in this latest project.”

The event took place on September 19 and also commemorated the 2017 UN International Day of Peace.