Students in Years 7 and 8 at MGGS have been busy working on a once in a lifetime DT enrichment opportunity to design a new stamp for the Royal Mail. The competition seeks to honour the heroes of the Coronavirus pandemic and will be recorded in history as it is only the fifth time a competition of this kind has been run. Previous competitions were held in 1966, 1981, 2013 and 2017. Winning entrants will receive £1,000 in high street vouchers and £1,000 for their school.

The UK postage stamp was first introduced in 1840 and laid the foundations for the many national and international postal systems still in use across the world today.  The introduction of new stamps ordinarily takes five years starting with initial research into the subject matter before progressing to the design stage with up to four designers. It is then sent to the Queen for royal approval before being mass produced. Members of the public can submit suggestions and requests to the Royal Mail for new stamp designs, hence a broad range of philatelic products have been produced over the years from film classics, to comedy greats, to paleontological discoveries.  

Students should review the competition guidelines posted on their Google Classrooms. Entries must be submitted to the DT department by Friday 21st May – good luck!  DT @MGGS_