The whole of Pre-Prep have been absorbed in creating an atmosphere fit for a King this week. The classrooms have been a flurry of fun and festive activity, as the children pour themselves into exciting tasks designed to teach them about the Coronation and to prepare for their celebration lunch on Friday.

Reception have been learning about what happens at a Coronation, the meaning of the pomp and ceremony, and the unifying theme of the Union Jack and how the colours and emblems within it represent the blending of our different nations.

They have been drawing pictures of King Charles and Queen Camilla which are, in Mrs Grover’s words, ‘a bit gorgeous’. They have also made jam-jar posies using red, white and blue flowers, to adorn the table during the celebration on Friday, and representatives from Year 8 popped in to help them put together paper chains and make finger-print flags, which turned out to be a highly decorative exercise on both the finished products and the enthusiastic hands that made them!

Year 1 have been working on silhouette paintings of the King, splashing plenty of red, white and blue paint around a stencil of our new monarch’s head. The children have been reading a story about The King’s Pants (the most important bit of the regal costume) by Nicholas Allen, imagining what they would do if they were king for a day and carrying out a scavenger hunt on the coronation theme. They even managed to squeeze in a cupcake baking session, as did everyone bar Year 2, who are away today on a Special Trip – they will have to depend on their friends to make extra cakes for them.

The children have been writing their own acrostic poems, based on the letters in ‘King Charles’, imagining what it would like to be King and what the Coronation means to them.

They also enjoyed their own trip, to the Chapel to visit Fr Simon. He talked to them about the differences (and the similarities) between Christ The King and our new King Charles. A huge difference was that King Charles was born in a palace, unlike Christ The King, who was born in a stable and was never rich. A similarity was that Jesus used his power wisely by helping the poor and vulnerable, just as the King will do with his charity work. Fr Simon then showed the children anointing oils, which will be used in the Coronation ceremony to bless Charles when he is sworn in as King.

Kindergarten have been busy baking scones to enjoy with jam and cream this afternoon, and will be wearing their own hand-made crowns and waving their decorated coronation flags at the celebration lunch tomorrow.

And what of Year 2’s special trip – they are at Windsor Castle, as the very last visitors before the Coronation. What an atmosphere they will be soaking up, and what a truly memorable way to start a landmark weekend in the history of our nation.

Thursday 4th May 2023