Pumpkin Carving Competition Winners Announced

October 29 2021

Gallery of carved pumpkins

Dozens of pupils from Classes 1 – 11 today brought carved pumpkins into school, in the hope of winning a prize from the Class 12 judges.

Traditionally the final year pupils would host a fundraising Halloween Ceilidh tonight, transforming classrooms and corridors into spooky, dark, mysterious places for the younger pupils to be thrilled by; whilst the school hall is brought alive with music and dancing. However, stringent Scottish schools covid rules set the scene for another staple ESS calendar event to be spiked (see Christmas Market news). Instead, they are holding a Pumpkin Carving Competition, with a £1 (or more by donation) entry. (Option to enter through the ESS Online Shop).

Hand picked pumpkins: Steiner family visit the local pumpkin patch at Craigie’s Farm ahead of the carving competition.

Carved at home, and brought into school this morning, the 33 pumpkins (and melons!) adorned the stone wall at the school entrance for all to marvel. The entries displayed an impressive array of creative carving techniques and design ideas.

Many local grocery shops and supermarket shelves sold out of pumpkins yesterday, as families prepare for a weekend of costumes, guising and games like apple-dunking in flour, as Scotland has been given the green light to celebrate the second pandemic Halloween by the Scottish Government this year; however school events are banned for another year in a row.

Rosettes and prizes are awarded in the following categories:

Funniest (rosette): Ester, Class 11

Spookiest (rosette): Class 5,

Most Creative (rosette): Siblings Rosa, Class 4 and Emil, Class 1 with a map of the world

Overall Best Prize Classes 1 -5 (Prize of Pumpkin Stencils and Halloween tattoos) goes to Jamie in Class 3

Overall Best Prize Classes 6-11 (Prize of wooden pumpkin engraving set) goes to Jack in Class 8

A gallery of all entries can be viewed on our ESSTalks.org platform here.

Class 12 Trip of one to two weeks is an integral part of the pupil’s curriculum. It aims to widen the educational experience; and the whole Class take part with their Guardian.

One of the purposes of the Class fund, raised through fundraising initiatives throughout the year (including the school lunches) is to assist with the cost of trips, either in part for each Class member or in full where the family cannot meet the cost. It is still unknown where Class 12 will be going for their end-of-year trip.