Preparation, collaboration, celebration - all for the King's Coronation!
Preparation
Pupils in Year 5 and 6 designed bunting flags in their humanities lessons to mark the coronation. Head of History, Beth Armitage, said: “The children have been finding out about the symbolism associated with the coronation, as well as learning about our new King and his passions and interests. They then thought about how they could create an impactful and meaningful part of the bunting, considering their own preferences and ideas for design.
“I was so impressed by the variety of flags that were produced! Some children chose bold images and lettering, whilst others focused on much more intricate and details sketches. All in all, some wonderful work was produced and decorated the school dining room.”
In Prep School assembly, just before the big event, Mr Pitman led our own mini-coronation to help the children understand what would be happening at the Coronation. The children really enjoyed the speedy walk-through proceedings with our own King and Queen, the unusual props and hearing anecdotes from the last coronation in 1953.
“Historically, it is really important for the children to learn what the last coronation was like so that when they are watching the 2023 coronation, they can see how our world and nation has changed and how far we have come.”
Mr Pitman
One parent of a Year 5 commented afterwards: "It was amazing - [child's name] explained the coronation to the watching family as it happened. His knowledge was superb."
Collaboration and Celebration
We all enjoyed delicious picnics, bathed in sunshine, to mark the historic moment and making lasting memories for all our pupils and staff. Afterwards, we celebrated with lots of collaborative cross year fun on our coronation special afternoon and down in the Pre-Prep, the children tested their wits against some wonderful traditional games.
Years 3 - 8 took part in a rotation of tennis games, tennis rounders and diamond cricket, and where possible Year 3 played with Year 8, Year 4 with 7 and Year 5 with 6! It was stunning - what a way to celebrate the momentous occasion of the coronation.
Headmaster, Martin Barker, said: “Our Prep and Pre-Prep children have been very interested in learning about the coronation process this week and it was really good to celebrate together today, with our traditional picnic in front of the Union Jack-clad pillars.
