Last month children had a visit from the local police regarding the Knife Angel that will be coming to town on 31st May. The Knife Angel, created by artist Alfie Bradley and the British Ironworks Centre, is made from over 100,000 seized blades. The sculpture was created to highlight the negative effects of violent behaviour of all types including knife crime, domestic assault, sexual abuse and county lines.
Knife crime is particularly poignant for Newton Aycliffe after one of the town’s teenagers, Jack Woodley, lost his life to knife crime in 2021. Since then, Jack’s mum, Zoe McGill, has been working with Newton Aycliffe Neighbourhood Policing Team – Sergeant Andy Boyd, to add her story to workshops, delivered by Sgt. Boyd, to thousands of schoolchildren in the town.
Based on this information, St Francis’ Years 5 and 6’s were tasked with a competition of creating posters relevant to knife crime and the angel itself. They researched the Angel, where it came from, why it was important and linked it to knife crime and how it could affect and make people feel.
Entries were submitted and Sienna-Mae Smith was awarded first prize for St Francis Junior School.
Well done to Sienna-Mae.