Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall viewed the work of four Year 13 Queen Margaret College students on their recent visit to the Pukeahu National War Memorial in Wellington.

Students Brittany Eng, Caitlin Ritchie, Gabriella Shea and Bridgette Midgley created displays with the theme of WWI Remembrance as part of their 2015 NCEA Achievement Standards Programme.

Head of Technology, Barbara Knight, says: “This year we wanted to do a WW1 remembrance theme to tie in with the 100 years centenary of WW1 and to link Te Papa Store and visitors to the Richard Taylor Scale of our War exhibition upstairs in Te Papa. The design brief for this project was to capture the ‘wow factor’ by using unconventional materials and to tell a visual story about significant aspects of WW1 as seen through the eyes of young people today

Brittany’s contemporary korowai cloak represents the mana we hold for those who have fallen and their sacrifice. She used over 1,000 plastic bags which were melted and painted by hand then layered to create poppies.

Bridgette’s garment features hand-crafted barbed wire to symbolise the mechanics of war.

Caitlin was inspired by New Zealand monuments, which honour those who served in WWI. She used laser cutting technology to cut crosses from MDF wood and to inscribe the names of towns. “The crosses symbolise the fallen and stand for remembrance of their sacrifice,” she comments.

Gabriella created a garment that told a story about correspondence between soldiers and loved ones at home. “Letters are a connection between home and heart and was for soldiers in the trenches the only form of communication,” explains Gabrialla.

A special feature of her work is the papier-mâché bodice covered in over 300 authentic, pre-1950s postage stamps from around the world.

The student work displayed in the Te Papa store foyer display case for four weeks during this years WOW awards season.