‘Events like these will be written in the history books’


Headteacher Gary Spracklen tells us the Prince of Wales School in Dorchester has a strong history of royal celebrations


T


he coronation will be a special occasion for everyone at the Prince of Wales School in


Dorchester. Our one-form-entry school is located on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall and we have a long, deep association with Charles himself. In the 1990s, he signed off the original design of the school buildings and he has visited us three times in person. Pupils have also met him at local events and at Poundbury, his model village. But even without the royal


connection, we’d still be celebrating! The coronation is a historic event – perhaps not once in a lifetime for these children, but the only time they will get to celebrate the crowning of a new monarch in their primary school years. Events like these will be written in the history books and for the children to be able to understand that is a unique opportunity. Community is important to us as a school, so we’ll be gathering parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, and local people to celebrate everything that’s good about being together.


Plans to inspire We’re already starting to develop lots of ideas. I’ve got the most amazing PTA – they are always there to add


18 SPRING 2023 pta.co.uk


extra pairs of hands and help run events. Together, we’re planning a street party where we will reflect on the school’s history and our connection with the royal family. We’re planning a series of special events including musical soirees, art exhibitions and sporting festivals. Collaborating with former pupils, we hope to inspire our current children by showing them pathways they might follow in the future. As part of our day-to-day curriculum, we often work with grandparents and local care home residents, so we’ll also be reflecting on memories of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953.


Flying the flag For the jubilee, we held a giant street party. The PTA put strings of Union Jacks on a large wooden fence at the front of the school and we hung bunting from the streetlamps to the school building. When visitors arrived, it was like going down The Mall. The children made a giant Union Jack out of tarpaulin in the school hall. We took it outside onto the field and sang the national anthem while a drone flew over to film the occasion. Recreating the moment from the Diamond Jubilee in 2002, when Brian


May performed the national anthem from the roof of Buckingham Palace, one of our teachers dressed up and played electric guitar from the school roof. We showed video of the Queen and James Bond parachuting into the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games to our Year 4 pupils, who are eight and nine years old. For us adults, it’s recent history, but they weren’t born when that happened – so being able to reference those events and talk about them was fascinating. We also had a visit from Her Majesty: a cardboard cut-out version funded by the PTA arrived in a London taxi. It was fun to introduce a bit of London culture – we don’t get many black cabs in these parts. Most of the pupils were expecting the real Queen so there was some disappointment – probably because they’d met Prince Charles in May. The PTA also funded a cupcake for every child from a local baker.


A head start As we did for the jubilee, we’ll be holding our coronation celebrations the week before the main event. We thought people might have jubilee fatigue after the four-day holiday because so much was happening. For many of the children, their first experience of the jubilee was at school.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60