Epson helps Handcross Primary School look back in time

When Melony Rocque-Hewit took over her newly-built Year 3 classroom at Handcross Primary School in West Sussex she faced the challenge of creating artwork for its many windows. She turned to Epson who helped her transform the room with stunning Egyptian window graphics.

“My new classroom is part of a new several hundred thousand pound extension. Large and bright it has a wall that is basically all glass,” says Melony.  “As I have a background in large-format graphics and printing, I knew that window graphics would not only make my classroom unusually striking, but the images would also provide a perfect backdrop to the learning experience.” 

The Egyptian experience

Luckily for Melony ancient Egypt was the topic for the autumn term. “I couldn’t have asked for a better project. The images from ancient Egypt are very arresting and powerful. I knew that the images I had chosen would not only add colour and depth to the classroom but would really inspire the children to want to learn about this fascinating subject.”

She had thought of printing them out on A3 acetate and then placing these decoratively on the windows and glass door. “Although they would probably look OK for a while, it really felt like a massive compromise. I’ve seen what great window graphics can do to a space. I wanted to make the new classroom look very special and I wanted to create a real wow factor for my children and their parents. Also, as I have external windows it would only be a matter of time before the acetate came unstuck and the images faded due to temperature changes and UV light.” 

Before teaching Melony had been involved in the large format digital print industry, writing about it for 15 or so years. “I decided to approach Epson to ask them for help and they were fantastic. Epson not only created five large-format window graphics for my classroom but also three extra images for the other junior classes so that they could have some great window art too.” 

The window graphics were printed onto high-performance self-adhesive vinyl using Epson’s 64-inch SureColor SC-S70600 wide-format printer. The combination of Epson’s UltraChrome GSX ink-set and proven Micro Piezo TFP printhead ensured that the vivid colours, solid whites and metallic effects were of the highest quality and clarity and long lasting. Besides featuring CMYK, light magenta, light cyan, light black and orange, the 10-colour SC-S70600 supports white and metallic ink simultaneously - perfect for the colourful, highly-detailed, eye-catching designs that Melony had selected. Additionally, the GSX inks are hard wearing, odourless and nickel-free - perfectly suited to the application within the classroom.

“The window graphics form a great backdrop to the children’s own mummified cats, scarab beetles and papyrus paper,” says Melony. “Our next topic is the Stone Age and I’ve already got an idea of what I want my glass display to look like. It’s just a case of making it happen!”