The Seaton Visitor Centre Trust's "Walk Through Time" arts banner project, initiated in October 2005, has culminated in a permanent exhibition being unveiled on Monday 2^nd March, at Seaton Primary School and Axe Valley Community College, who took part in the creative arts enterprise. The project aimed to produce a colourful set of banners enabling children and young people in East Devon to understand the value of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, and the local stories that define Seaton as a town. The school exhibition has been supported by the Jurassic Coast Trust and is aimed at inspiring future generations of pupils and visitors to the schools to find out more about the Jurassic Coast.

Trustees from the Jurassic Coast Trust, including Hugo Swire MP, Councillor Margaret Rogers and Professor Denys Brunsden will attend the launch, where Professor Brunsden will address pupils and staff on the rich diversity of the geology along the 95 mile stretch of coast; and explain why it is so important to us, and how we can safeguard it for the future.

The banner project involved participation from 120 pupils from Seaton Primary, a UNESCO designated school, and 40 pupils from Axe Valley Community College. Dr Anjana Khatwa, the Jurassic Coast Education Co-ordinator, worked closely with both schools to develop the banner themes. The artist, Jane Witheridge, who was commissioned by the Seaton Visitor Centre Trust, was responsible for expanding the pupils' interpretations, and worked with them to produce their sketches and ideas onto the silk banners.

The brief for the Axe Valley Community College was to reflect the status of Seaton as an important town in the geology and palaeontology of the World Heritage Jurassic Coast, and to inspire people who live and work in the area to find out more about the history of the coastline. The pupils worked with Jane Witheridge, to research wildlife and fossils in the East Devon area.  

Seaton Primary School fulfilled their obligation as a UNESCO Associated School by helping the children understand the local history and heritage of Seaton. Using resources at the museum and across the town, the children depicted in their banners the rich diversity of life and heritage in the town.  In May, following her visit to the school, Anne Breivik, the national co-ordinator of the UNESCO Association of Schools, commended the project as an example of the type of work that UNESCO Schools should be aspiring to.

The Seaton Visitor Centre Trust has spent many hours working as a community group to complete the "Walk Through Time" banners, and the results are stunning. The fourteen banners are now hanging from specially designed lampposts in the town and along the Esplanade, and copies of these banners will now be exhibited at the schools.

James Weld, chairman of the Jurassic Coast Trust says "this is one of many education projects we are supporting and we have been particularly delighted with the tremendous enthusiasm from pupils in their colourful interpretations of the geological history of the Jurassic Coast".