Designing for Life Beneath the Waves

From Design to Reality: Announcing Our Winning Reef (30.04.26)

Last week marked a truly exciting milestone in our Artificial Reef Design Project, as our finalists had the opportunity to meet virtually with Piers Baillie from Global Reef. During the call, Piers carefully talked through each of the shortlisted designs, celebrating the creativity, thought, and effort that had gone into every entry.

We are delighted to announce that Athena and James were chosen as our overall winners with their design, Ark of the Ōkeanos - a name inspired by the Greek word for ocean. Their design stood out for its creativity, functionality, and strong alignment with the project criteria, demonstrating a clear understanding of how artificial reefs can support marine life while also being visually engaging.

Even more excitingly, the journey from concept to reality is already underway. The Global Reef team in Thailand have constructed the winning design and are planning to deploy it into the ocean in the coming weeks. It is incredible to think that an idea developed in the classroom is now becoming a real structure that will support ocean habitats and contribute to marine conservation.

We are immensely proud of all the pupils who took part in this project and the enthusiasm, creativity, and commitment they have shown throughout. This has been a truly meaningful experience, bringing learning to life in a way that has real-world impact.

We are also very much looking forward to welcoming Piers to the school in June, where we will have the opportunity to celebrate the project together and reflect on this remarkable journey - from initial ideas to a reef in the ocean.

 

From Designs to Reality: Our Artificial Reef Journey Continues (31.03.26)

Over the course of the Lent Term, our pupils have shown incredible dedication, creativity, and enthusiasm as they worked on their artificial reef designs. What has stood out most is not only the quality of the final outcomes, but the thoughtful process behind them - pupils carefully applying the design criteria while bringing their own imaginative ideas to life.

Throughout the project, the 5Cs have been clearly visible in action. Pupils have collaborated to share and refine ideas, communicated their thinking through models and labelled designs, and demonstrated real compassion for marine environments. Alongside this, their critical thinking and creativity have driven designs that are both innovative and purposeful.

We are delighted to now share that the finalists have been selected, following a careful review process supported by our Senior School Eco Committee. Choosing just a small number of designs from such a strong field was no easy task, and we are incredibly proud of every pupil who took part.

These shortlisted designs have now been sent to Global Reef, who are currently reviewing them and will select the winning design to be constructed and deployed in the ocean. This marks an exciting transition from concept to reality, as our pupils’ ideas move one step closer to making a tangible impact.

We look forward to announcing the winning design after the Easter break and celebrating the creativity, effort, and innovation shown by all involved.

 

Celebrating Creativity: Lunchtime Design Club in Full Flow (11.02.26)

Our Lunchtime Design Club continues to be a hive of creativity and excitement. It has been wonderful to see pupils so fully engaged in developing their artificial reef designs - sharing ideas, testing structures, refining details and, most importantly, having fun in the process.

The imagination and thought that has gone into the designs so far has been truly impressive. Pupils have carefully considered stability, surface area for coral growth, and how to create engaging habitats for marine life, while also bringing their own unique creativity to each structure.

As we move into the next stage of the project, we are looking forward to reviewing the designs alongside members of the Senior School Eco Committee, who will help us shortlist the top 10 entries. These shortlisted designs will then be sent to Global Reef, who will work with us to select the winning design that will be built and deployed in the ocean.

We are incredibly proud of the effort, enthusiasm and innovation shown so far and we can’t wait to see what happens next.

 

Launching our Lunchtime Design Club (21.01.26)

This week we launched our Lunchtime Design Club, giving pupils the opportunity to receive extra support from teachers and our Eco Ambassadors as they develop and refine their artificial reef designs. The club has already become a vibrant and collaborative space, filled with thoughtful discussion, creativity, and problem-solving.

It was particularly encouraging to see older pupils confidently supporting younger pupils - helping them to model ideas, refine structures, and think carefully about how their designs meet the project criteria. Our Eco Committee pupils came well prepared, bringing the design criteria to life through clear explanations and practical examples, which proved invaluable in guiding younger pupils as they began shaping their ideas.

The session was a wonderful demonstration of our 5Cs in action: communication, compassion, and collaboration were evident throughout, while critical thinking and creativity shone as pupils tested ideas, explored structures, and started turning concepts into tangible designs. We are excited to see how these ideas continue to develop over the coming weeks.

 

Designing for Life Beneath the Waves (07.01.2026)

As we return to school after the Christmas break, our DCPS Artificial Reef Design Project is diving into its most creative and exciting phase.

Coral reefs may cover less than 1% of the ocean floor, but they support around a quarter of all marine life. These underwater ecosystems provide shelter, food, and breeding grounds for fish, protect coastlines from erosion, and support millions of people worldwide. When reefs thrive, oceans thrive.

Sadly, climate change, pollution and habitat loss have put many reefs at risk. That’s where innovative solutions - and creative young minds - come in.

Through our partnership with Global Reef, our pupils are taking on a real conservation challenge: designing artificial reef structures that can support coral growth and create safe habitats for marine life. These structures are not just sculptures - they are carefully designed environments that must be stable, durable and rich in spaces where life can grow.

When the project launched in November, Piers from Global Reef inspired pupils by explaining how reef structures support marine life, and how thoughtful design choices can help create rich, biodiverse ocean habitats. Over the coming weeks, we will support pupils as they continue to develop their ideas, encouraging them to consider how their work brings our 5Cs to life:

• Compassion for fragile ocean ecosystems
• Collaboration through shared ideas and teamwork
• Critical Thinking to solve real environmental challenges
• Communication by explaining and presenting designs
• Creativity in imagining new solutions beneath the waves

This project is about more than design. It’s about showing pupils that their ideas matter, that education can lead to action, and that even from the classroom, they can help protect our planet’s future.

 

Our DCPS Artificial Reef Design Project Begins! (21.11.2025)

This week we are excited to launch our DCPS Artificial Reef Design Project, created in partnership with Global Reef, an organisation working to restore ocean habitats through innovative artificial reef structures. This collaboration gives our pupils an incredible opportunity to take part in a real conservation challenge: to design their own artificial reef, with the winning design being built by Global Reef and deployed in the ocean.

Over the coming months, pupils will develop creative, stable, and habitat-rich reef structures that support coral growth and marine life. The project will run from November all the way through to June, with key milestones including the launch this week, a pupil design period from November to February, the start of a Lunchtime Design Club in the first half of the Lent Term, and the shortlisting of designs at the end of February. The winning design will be selected in March and announced in April, tying in with Earth Day, before being constructed and deployed between April and May. We aim to finish the year with a celebration event in June.

Throughout the year, we will share updates through blog posts and social media - spotlighting pupil ideas, exploring the science behind artificial reefs, and showing how the project brings our school values and the 5Cs (Compassion, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Communication and Creativity) to life.

This is more than a design challenge. It is a chance for our pupils to help protect and rebuild ocean habitats, to work together on a meaningful mission, and to see their ideas make a difference beneath the waves.

Let the designing begin!