Remember that last Thursday (9 July), saw the Countess of Wessex visit St Catherine’s School in Ventnor (we did a quick blip about it)?
Well we had a good reaction from the last post, so thought we’d go through the myriad of photo that we took and have structured them a bit better, putting them into different galleries.
What went on during the day
There was an air of great excitement preceding the Countess’ arrival, counting down the minutes before her car pulled up, her helicopter having landed in the fields of Ventnor Middle.
Having exited the car, she was welcomed by pupils, Steffan and Matt, and St Catherine’s Principal, Grenville Shipley.
Have a listen to Steffan and Matt as we chatted to them just after meeting the Countess. [audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/steffan-and-mathew-countess-wessex-st-catherines-visit.mp3]
Lunch
Next it was off to the dining room where, after lunch, the Countess went between the tables, sitting down with them and chatting. She was scheduled to chat to six tables, but did nearly twice this number, much to the delight of those present.
Following that, in the playground, the Countess watched pupils Amy and Lucy take part in balance exercises overseen by teacher Ms Scott. The Countess resisted taking part herself but persuaded Principal Shipley to have a go.
We chatted to Amy, Lucy and Ms Scott, which you can have a listen to how they got on …
[audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/lucy-amy-ms-scott-st-catherines.mp3]
A trip to the classroom saw Vanessa Fradgley with her pupils showing the Countess how things go there.
Further Education
The last section of the visit was over in the Further Education section on the other side of the road, this included occupations skills, such as wall building.
Finally, pupils presented the Countess with a bird box with a special message written on it.
Grenville Shipley, Principal of St Catherine’s School, was clearly pleased with the visit, “The Countess was very interested in the spectrum of challenges children and young people with communication impairments face. She asked a number of pertinent questions and was interested in finding out more about the young people during her visit. We were truly delighted to welcome her and it was a very special day for everyone.”
On a personal note, I was really impressed with how she spent time with the people at St Catherine’s school. She appeared sincerely interested and genuine.
Photo galleries
Clicking on the text or the images below will take you to galleries of images.
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