Harofly by Haro Class, St. Ebbe’s School

In many cultures around the world, dragonflies symbolise change. Like most Year Six children, Haro Class have been thinking a lot about the upcoming changes in their own lives recently, and we have chosen this as our theme. We talked about the emotions surrounding moving on to secondary school in September, as well as our feelings about our school – what it means to us, how it has shaped us, and what we would like to leave behind us when we move on. Every child in the class designed and painted part of the finished design – it really is a team effort!

The base of our model is covered in water because dragonflies grow up in water. St. Ebbe’s school is very close to the River Thames, and so most of Haro Class grew up near water too. Like them, we will soon be leaving the place where we began and starting something new, but we will leave part of ourselves behind. Harofly is clinging onto a rock – she isn’t sure she wants to go, but she has a strong foundation to go back to whenever she needs it. She also has a surfboard, to help her to ride the waves of change, and to remind us of happy times on our residential visit in Devon last summer. The colours of the surfboard show our bright hopes and happy feelings. They help us remember that if we fall, we will get back up and try again. The river we have painted ebbs and flows around our dragonfly like the changes and mixed feelings that we are experiencing. Some of the swirling water is shaped like a number six, to represent us.

Harofly’s body is very colourful and bright, showing the fun we have together. The back part of her body shows our experiences at forest school together. The dots in the middle of her body are our signatures; each child chose their favourite colour to sign her with. The green chin on the dragonfly represents trust, for example to trust your friend. The light green stands for education, like the green light on traffic lights, it makes us ready to go! Her face is orange and yellow like the setting sun, and the rainbows on her eyes represent our mixed emotions and the diversity at our school – everyone is great in St. Ebbe’s’ eyes and we all fit together. The gold on the eyes symbolises the friendship, compassion and glory of St Ebbe’s and what we feel at our school. The hexagons represent a maze of education and friendship problems and resolution and the feeling of not knowing what is coming around the corner.

The blue on the tail represent the time we had by the sea in Yenworthy and all the fun. The orange and pink represent the fun and friendship during year 6 and the time we had been together joyfully. Each of Harofly’s legs is different. Her front legs have a seaweed design on them, representing the tangle of problems and troubles that we need to overcome. One design is made up of blocks that represent the memories that have built up for us over the years and the way we fit together, some of them are blank, for memories still to be made. Her middle leg has bright colours representing the diversity at St. Ebbe’s and the way every person is welcome here. One back leg is like the trunk of a tree; 7 it is strong and roots Harofly to her home. The other is bright yellow and green, symbolising good luck, happiness and new beginnings (new green shoots). The swirls represent joy and change.

At the centre of Harofly’s wings is a sun, which is setting on our time at St. Ebbe’s, and dawning on the new experiences we’ll have in Year Seven. The sunset colours on the bottom wings represent joy, fun, beauty, and our love, care and kindness for each other. Separately, the black and orange on the wings represent happiness at St. Ebbe’s and fear of what’s to come in Secondary school. Together, they represent the contrast of people at school. The cloudlike patterns on the top two wings represent reaching our full potential, high in the clouds. We can all be amazing if we believe in ourselves. Each of us has used a fingerprint to make the clouds in the sky.