Duchess joins school classes
A Crawley head teacher beamed with pride after HRH Duchess of Edinburgh visited their school and took part in lessons.
Her Royal Highness visited Manor Green College last Wednesdayandinteractedwith studentsandstaff,aswellasgetting involved in lessons.
Pupils helped her make scones, told her their favourite animals and talked about getting prepared for their Duke of Edinburgh Gold expedition next week.
Manor Green College is a special school provision for 11 to 19 year olds.
Its core purpose is to discover and develop every student’s potential in preparation for their adult lives. And head teacher Tom Smith said excitement levels have been high since they found out about the VIP visit.
“We were reaching fever pitchaboutaweekagowhenthe letter went out,” he said. “I cannot express to you the excitementamongstthestudentsand how proud they are to be recognisedandvisitedbysomeoneso special. That was really apparent with the young people who were lucky enough to be part of the visit.”
And Her Royal Highness got tomeetanumberofstudentson hervisit–andevengotanapron ontohelpmakesomesconesin a catering class.
Sheshowedparticularinterest in the students doing their Duke of Edinburgh Gold expedition.
Mrsmithsaid:“itwasacross section of our population. We haveamagicalamazingmystery mix of young people with SEN here and Her Royal Highness wasluckyenoughtomeetsome of those children. We went to our sixth form block where she accessed some catering and some cookery which is based around the life skills element we offer here at the college.
“She then went into our DT class where she got to have a go at some practical elements and then she met our Duke of Edinburghstudents,ourgoldcohort who are off to do their practice expedition this week.
“The Duchess seemed to enjoy engaging with the young people and was really pleased withthesconesproducedinthe cookery session she took part in. She seemed to enjoy speaking to our young people embarking on their Gold Duke of Edinburgh, so it’s been a really successful visit.”