Senior pupils at Alton School were delighted to hear from River of Hope organisers that their flag design has been selected to be one of the 200 artworks which will be printed on to silk flags and processed as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant.

It will also be displayed on the River of Hope online gallery and shown on digital screens across the country as part of the Jubilee celebrations.

The 200 silk flags will be paraded along the Mall as a River of Hope as the Platinum Pageant comes to a close outside Buckingham Palace. They will be carried together to produce a river effect, flowing through the streets of central London.

The River of Hope is an arts-based learning project linking schools around the world through the study of rivers.

It will form a central part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Primary and secondary school children were invited to create a picture of their hopes and aspirations for the planet over the next 70 years.

The hope is this project will encourage young people to think about the importance of safeguarding the future of their own natural environment.

Pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 were given the opportunity to produce a piece of art to be entered for the Alton School collaborative piece.

Alton School curriculum group lead for creative arts Vicky Sanderson said: “Pupils created their own personal response to the theme associated with the symbol of the fish.

“We chose the fish because in many cultures it’s a metaphor for deep awareness.

“We wanted to use this idea to bring deep awareness for the need to promote clean river water for communities who rely on them for fresh drinking water. If a river is clean, fish will live and thrive – it’s not too late to make a change and save communities one river at a time, one fish at a time.

“Many of our pupils also used this opportunity to respond to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, using the Union Jack to represent our support for the wider global community.”