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St Peter's School proud to welcome Royal couple |
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On Thursday, 20 September, the staff and pupils of St Peter's were honoured to welcome TRH the Earl and Countess of Wessex. This was a very special day as it commemorated the date, 125 years earlier, when the Reverend Alfred Wren founded the school at his home in Exmouth with just five boys. The school has come along way since then and is now home to some 250 girls and boys from the age of 3 to 13.
We are especially delighted that the Countess agreed to be part of our celebrations as her Grandfather, Theo Rhys Jones, was Headmaster here between 1942 and 1959. Before her marriage to HRH Prince Edward, Sophie Rhys Jones was our special guest in July 2002 when we celebrated 50 years of being at our current site at Harefield, Lympstone.
To commemorate this occasion, following a performance by our Chamber Choir, TRH unveiled a plaque in our newly refurbished sports hall, which will now be called The Wessex Hall, in their honour. The Royal couple were then escorted by Headmaster Rob Williams and Charles Abram, on a tour of the school when they were introduced to staff and children from our nursery and junior school. The children were delighted to meet the Countess and show off their artistic skills.
Edward and Sophie then spent time chatting to staff member Emma Tyson and pupils who were working in Forest School making dens and collecting items for their environmental collections. The party then made its way to the front lawn where our intrepid Year 8s were putting on a display of their talents to show the Earl the skills that they learn as part of our Cross Keys award.
The afternoon was rounded off with the planting, by Prince Edward, of a Cedar tree to replace a wonderful specimen that was part of the estate when Sophie's grandfather was Head and the was blown down by the gales in 87 and the unveiling of a bronze statue, commissioned from former pupil Robert Cholawo. Then time for a chat with pupils who had gathered to say goodbye, before departing late in the afternoon.