PUPILS at Red Oaks Primary School had just two days before half term to create an exhibition to celebrate 175 years since the birth of Swindon as a railway town.

And after a lot of hard work and running around they pulled it out the bag and made it a success to the delight of visitors who went to see it.

The exhibition involved art, drama, story-telling and dance to mark the incredible milestone.

“It was great,” said headteacher Rachel Surch. “It was a challenge to put on an exhibition in two days and all the parents couldn’t believe it. We were all pretty shattered afterwards.”

Artwork depicting some of the town’s features were also created by the pupils and put up in the school hall covering a large 175 cardboard cut-out.

They showed illustrations of the Town Gardens, Lydiard Park, Great Western Hospital, Honda and even the Queen visiting Great Western Railway.

Mrs Surch added: “It was all to do with Swindon 175 happening and we have been celebrating 175 years since the birth of Swindon as a railway town. A lot of schools across Swindon have been taking part and everyone has been celebrating in their own way.

“We came off curriculum for two days and we started with an assembly where I said to the children we were going to try and create an exhibition. We had artists and dramatists from Prime and we did various workshops with the children, culminating in the exhibition which was open to parents and the public.

“Everything was based on the Swindon 175 logo which features things such as a Mini to represent the Mini Plant and Brunel. All the classes took a different icon and did poetry, writing and artwork to go with it.”

The school in Redhouse Way, North Swindon also had a visit from a modern day Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who dropped by to find out what they had learnt.