The winner of the Dundee Schools Comics Competition will be printed in the Tele

Young illustrators in Dundee schools are sharpening their pencils to create a comic that could be published in the Tele.

Primary school children were challenged to come up with an illustrated story with a health and safety message for a competition open to all pupils from P4 to P7 in Dundee City Council schools.

The best effort will be printed in the Tele, with prizes including annual comic subscriptions and £1,000 for the winner’s school.

Fintry Primary School helped launch the contest on Monday and encouraged other pupils in the town to join them in coming up with their own characters and plots.

Home to Beano and The Dandy, Dundee has a rich comedic heritage which is being leveraged for the competition run by RAiSE (the Raising Aspirations in Science Education Schools programme), MVV Environment Baldovie and the Health and Safety Education Project LOCHER security.

Schools will receive a health and safety presentation to inspire students.

Entries will then be judged by a jury including representatives from DC Thomson, Dundee City Council and Developing the Young Workforce before a winner is announced in June.

Sarah Hynie Klemen, Senior Science Development Manager for RAiSE in Dundee, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to develop their creativity while considering real life scenarios and applications.

Comics speak to people in a totally different way than other media.

Dave Lord, Editor of the Evening Telegraph

“We’re really excited to see the ideas they come up with and to really direct their own learning through this competition.”

Tele editor Dave Lord said: ‘This is a brilliant initiative and we are really happy to support it.

“Comics speak to people in a totally different way than other media.

“Sure, they can be fun and encourage us all to laugh, but they can also be a really effective, visual and entertaining way to get important messages across.

“We know our youngsters in Dundee are incredibly creative and I can’t wait to see what they come up with.

“The prizes on offer are substantial, so there’s no shortage of incentives to get involved. Good luck to all participants.

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