Year 9 Bedford Girls’ School pupils have won a series of prizes after participating in a national competition, where they had to portray the significance of the Brandenburg Gate.

Run by the North East German Network (NEGN) – part of the Think German Initiative, set up by German departments at universities across the United Kingdom to promote the language and the culture of German-speaking countries – the competition, split into Years 9-11 and Lower Sixth-Upper Sixth categories, required entrants to create an A1 poster of Brandenburg Gate.

Using text, in German, and images to depict the importance of Brandenburg Gate in either the past, present or future, four BGS groups were successful in winning Blackwell Bookshop vouchers.

Group A (Vicky Brakenbury, Phoebe Miles, Rea Pourawal and Emily Ratcliffe) and Group B (Megan Harris and Jessamie Warwick) drew particular praise from the judging panel.

Group A were commended for the selection of images used, which made reference to a broad sweep of history, while Group B impressed with their focus on the building of the Gate, its dimensions and its aspects, with the historical perspective further developed through photos of the Gate at key moments in Germany’s history.

Mrs Arrowsmith, German Teacher at BGS, said: “It was a great competition for the girls to be involved in.

“It gave them plenty of food for thought as they undertook a lot of research into the Brandenburg Gate, and it gave them room to use their creativity in an activity different from what they’re normally used to in lessons.”