Textiles students at The Romsey School have produced some outstanding pieces of coursework this year as part of their GCSE examination.

Pupils were set the challenge of designing and making an item based on the topic of insects. Ladybirds, butterflies, spiders and caterpillars all proved very popular and were good sources of inspiration. Items that could be made ranged from children’s play mats through to clothing for both adults and children.

The first step was to research the topic, and then based on the information gathered decide which target market they would focus on. In total pupils had two terms in which to complete their coursework, with 19 hours allocated to the actual making of the products.

Many pupils included methods of decoration in their work which involved specific skills such as beading. This required a great deal of patience not to mention good time management to ensure work was completed on time.

Both Mingyang Zhang and Jo Frampton produced dresses of the highest quality, including some exquisite examples of beading work. Jo chose to produce a full length black dress featuring a silver beaded spider and web, while Mingyang took her inspiration from flying insects and produced another beautiful full length dress, this time in red and cream with lots of detailed beading and embroidery.

Textiles teacher Gail Cooper could not speak more highly of the group saying, “I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching this group of pupils and they have shown plenty of resilience in completing their work on time. The quality of the products produced this year exceeds expectations for the GCSE level of work. They are to be congratulated for all their efforts and should feel very proud of their achievements.”