THERE has been a buzz of activity at Pewsey Vale School over the last few weeks with a visit from Lord Peter Mandelson, a rocket display and a portrait competition.

On Friday politician, Peter Mandelson, one of the people responsible for the rebranding of the Labour Party as New Labour, was interviewed by year 10 students before enjoying lunch in the canteen and then giving a talk to the whole school about his career.

The year 10 students spent more than an hour with Lord Mandelson and covered a variety of topics ranging from the upcoming election, challenges in his own political career, the role of the media in politics and Europe.

Headteacher Carol Grant said: “It was very good of him to come because he’s such a busy person and for him to take the time to come and visit us was such a great opportunity for the students.

“He was very well received and he encouraged the students to get involved with politics and have their say which was brilliant.”

The school has also recently displayed a 30ft space rocket courtesy of aerospace centre Starchaser, based in Cheshire.

All of the pupils had the opportunity to take a look at the rocket, which sends satellites into space, and listened to a talk by the company’s CEO Steve Bennett.

Deputy headteacher Tony Forsythe said: “We did a big thing around the eclipse so I thought ‘what next’.

“There has been such a buzz around the school since, the kids have been taking more of an interest in space and technology and they’ve been getting more involved in their science lessons and thinking about careers in the industry.”

Pupils also had the chance to show off their artistic side during the school’s annual portrait competition.

Students from Year 7 to 11 submitted an array of pencil drawings including pictures of A-list celebrities, family members and role models.

The competition was judged by Devizes based oil painter Anna Simmons who awarded marks for tone, composition and capturing the character of the person.

Head of art Kimberley Pallot said: “We had more entries this year and the quality of the work was fantastic and much improved from last year.

“The breath and diversity of the portraits was amazing.”