The rules for entering

Entry is open to learners at participating schools who have a signed parent or guardian consent form on file. You cannot submit an entry without that form being signed and handed to your teacher liaison.

Members of a school leadership team for this programme may not enter for cash prizes. Their recognition is leadership experience, training and a certificate.

The artwork you submit must be original and made by you, or by the team you name in your entry. Collected waste must be the main material, not a decoration added at the end.

Everything you write in your entry must be true. That includes how much waste you collected, who helped you, and how you built the piece. An entry found to contain false information may be disqualified.

The artwork stays yours. You own it, you keep it, and you may sell it or display it wherever you like. Entering the competition does not transfer ownership to the programme.

By submitting an entry you give Custodians of the Blue a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual licence to use, reproduce, display, publish and distribute photographs, video and descriptions of your artwork, and photographs and video of you taking part in programme activities.

This material may be used for:

• the digital storybook and any other programme publication
• reporting to funders and partners
• social media posts and awareness campaigns
• exhibitions and public displays
• educational and promotional material about the programme
• documentation and archives

This permission is royalty free. You will not be paid for this use, and no fee, royalty or other compensation is owed to you or your family for it. The programme does not have to tell you in advance each time it uses the material.

Where it is practical to do so, your artwork will be credited to you and your school. Your work will always be used with respect for your dignity and privacy.

You may ask for a specific photograph to be taken down. Write to kolatshepisho@gmail.com. The programme will remove it from anything it still controls, though material already printed or already published by someone else may not be recoverable.

The artwork is yours and you may sell it. If you do, any contribution back to the programme is entirely voluntary. You are under no obligation to pay anything, during the programme or afterwards, and nothing will happen to you if you choose not to.

Contributions from learners who do choose to give something back go towards materials for the next group of learners.

Entries are scored online by an invited panel against the published rubric, which you can read at any time on the judging page. Each judge scores every criterion and writes a comment.

The decision of the judging panel is final. Scores and written feedback are released to you once the project lead publishes the results.

Entering the public gallery requires an access code from the project lead. Not every learner qualifies for this category.

Public votes are counted automatically, with one vote per artwork per device. Any attempt to manipulate the vote, including using scripts or multiple devices to vote repeatedly, will result in those votes being removed and may disqualify the entry.

Prize amounts are published on the home page. Prizes depend on the programme's funding being received as expected.

If a funder withdraws, reduces its grant or pays late, prizes may have to be reduced, delayed or restructured. If that happens the project lead will explain the reason to participating schools and agree the change with them before it takes effect, rather than altering prizes without warning.

Cash prizes for learners under 18 are handed over through the school, with the teacher liaison present.

Keep your password to yourself. You are responsible for what is submitted from your account. If you think someone else has your password, tell your teacher liaison and change it immediately under My details.

Once you submit an entry you cannot edit it. Ask the project lead if something genuinely needs to change.

Do not upload anything that is not your own work, anything offensive, or any photograph of another person who has not agreed to be photographed. Accounts that misuse the portal may be suspended.

These terms may be updated. Material changes affecting entries already submitted will be communicated to participating schools. These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa.