Students from Holbrook Academy have taken part in a unique art collaboration with Suffolk Police.

The aims of the 'Best I Can Be' Collaborative Art project were to commission works of art to brighten up the walls of Suffolk Police HQ's Learning & Development department and to establish links between the police and the school community.

The project was instigated by Inspector Roger Salmon and Holbrook Academy's Sara Burdett. Teacher Matt Holmes also played a key role to enable two classes to run side by side such was the popularity of the project.

Students art projects (Picture: Suffolk police)

Officers visited the school to take a special assembly and hand out certificates to the winning three artists – Darcey Gould (first prize); and to congratulate all who took part.

The brief was to create imagery that relates to growth, improvement, development, attaining knowledge, understanding, performance and/or improvement and 22 pieces of art were given to Suffolk Police.

Chief Inspector Taks Shah, who heads up the Learning & Development team at Police Headquarters in Martlesham, said: "We were delighted by the quality of the work and the skills of all the students who took part, particularly our three winners.

"It is important to build up links with the community and the Holbrook visit enabled us to speak to students about the positive opportunities offered by a career in the police service."

Inspector Salmon added: "We want to thank Holbrook Academy, both staff and students, for the enthusiasm they showed adopting this project. It has established a link between the school and Constabulary that we will look to build on in the future."

Project winners Darcey, Olivia and Connie with (from left): Inspector Roger Salmon, Sara Burdett, Tom Maltby, Matt Holmes Chief Inspector Taks Shah

Academy Headteacher Tom Maltby said: "This project has been extremely successful and our students have produced some outstanding artwork. We really hope we can adopt this on an annual basis as it not only helps students develop their skill, it also provides a wonderful opportunity to forge ongoing links between ourselves and Suffolk Police."

Project co-developer Sara Burdett said: "It is an absolute pleasure to see how this collaborative project has inspired our students to create such high quality and thoughtful works of art for display at Suffolk Police Headquarters. We are looking forward to continuing to work together with the Learning and Development team to provide opportunities for students' work to be on permanent display and give students further insight into careers in the police force."