Media Isle of Man, the company that publishes iomtoday.co.im, is inviting pupils across the Isle of Man to design an advertisement for our newspapers.

Winning pupils are awarded up to £450 for their school.

Pupils aged four to 16 create adverts for businesses and organisations. The competition aims to encourage creativity and imagination on current trends and topics.

Primary schools Anagh Coar and Manor Park are getting involved in the project this year.

We speak to Robert Coole, head teacher of both schools, about why they have chosen to take part.

What is it about the competition that attracts your support?

We often have lots of competitions for sport and music that we are able to get involved in but rarely ones for those pupils who have an artistic talent, so it is great to give those pupils the chance to shine and feel a sense of achievement in that area.

The awards ceremony always proves popular, do you enjoy attending? Why?

I always enjoy attending as it is lovely to see the children and their families given the spotlight for their achievements and to share in this with them.

It is always good for the children to be able to see beyond their school too and see what children in other schools are achieving.

Why do you think it’s important for your students to get involved?

It gives them the opportunity to learn about a local company and to think about quality poster design.

Creating catchy adverts and posters is something they are expected to do at different points in their literacy learning journey throughout primary school so additional opportunities to do this as part of a competition is of great benefit to them.

It is good for them to learn something new about what the companies are offering or trying to achieve too.

What would you say to other schools debating taking part in the future?

I would say that they should give their children the opportunity to take part, throughout the lockdown periods we gave the children the opportunity to do this as a piece of homework, so this is a simple way of getting involved without having to take up ‘in school’ learning time.

This year we had some who contributed via homework and some that did as classes so it is easy to be flexible in your approaches.

What do you enjoy about being involved in projects like this?

I enjoy giving the children as many opportunities as possible in being able to do something that makes them feel involved in the community beyond the school and to celebrate in these achievements as a school.

Entries are still being accepted so get yours in as soon as possible.