Compton students help to design Barnet's sustainable float in London New Year's Day Parade

Students at The Compton School helped to design the float that was awarded £2,000 for charities within the Borough. The event was attended by close to 500,000 spectators and was broadcast on 1000 television and radio stations worldwide. 

Students from the school’s Art Club and Global Citizens Club, both a part of the school’s extracurricular programme, assisted in decorating the float. The Compton School was also involved in the design of the Borough’s banner for the event. Misha in 8O was the winner of the design competition and his banner was used to promote the event and the Borough’s entry. He was invited to attend the event on the day with school staff and his family. Students in both clubs received medals in recognition of their participation on the day. 

The New Year’s Day Parade is an important annual event over the New Year period and is one of the world’s largest and greatest street parades. It is a parade that highlights how amazing London is in terms of diversity and culture, and how it is a welcoming and progressive city. 

This year’s theme was to ‘showcase your Borough to a global audience’ and the students were tasked to decorate a float designed to reflect what is iconic about the Borough of Barnet. As Barnet is known for its beautiful green spaces, with 28% of the Borough being green space, it was decided that celebrating green spaces and sustainability would be the theme for the float. 

The float was covered in green plants and shrubs to represent the green spaces. The entry aimed to be as sustainable as possible. All the decorations are being reused for future events and the shrubs will all be replanted around the Borough after the parade. On the day, Barnet’s entry showcased a vibrant collaboration from organisations, charities, and performers from across the Borough from school children, neighbours, and carnival dancers to a live 13-piece youth orchestra. The London Youth Concert Band performed live, including music by Beyonce and Stevie Wonder. 

The Borough of Barnet was awarded a trophy for participating in the event. The Mayor of Barnet, Cllr Nagus Narenthira, was also awarded £2,000 as a thank you for entering her Borough into the event; the evening was also attended by staff at The Compton School. The Mayor also visited the school ahead of the event to personally invite students from The Compton School to design the decorations.  

During her visit, she said: “Thank you very much for accepting our invitation to take part in designing the decorations for the float. It is so exciting to meet the creators of the design. The students are delightful, very polite, and well-spoken and that is a credit to the school.”