Princess Royal opens Primary School
19th October 2009
Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, officially opened Lyneham Primary School on Monday 19th October after a short visit to RAF Lyneham earlier in the day. The Princess requested the visit personally, as she wanted to understand how our community is coping with the challenges of the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan.

More than 300 children waved Union Flags, joined by families, staff and visitors to line the driveway to give a warm welcome to the Princess who was joined by the Head teacher, Julie Carr and RAF Lyneham Station Commander Group Captain Mike Neville and his wife Christine Neville, a governor of the school.

A posy was presented to the Princess by Kieran White, a pupil at the school. The Princess Royal was introduced to staff in the school entrance whilst the school choir sang the school song. After spending time talking with staff, governors and invited guests, HRH visited Year 3/4 classrooms and was the quest of honour at a performance of dance, hand bell ringing and singing. Dance, music and drama are all used at the school, as an avenue for raising self-esteem, developing resilience and making children smile!

Their performance brought a smile to all who were honoured to watch, including the Princess. The Princess then formally unveiled a plaque to officially open Lyneham Primary School. Lyneham Primary School opened in September 2007 following the merger of Lyneham Infants and Junior Schools, but because the building work has only recently finished the School has not been able to have a formal opening celebration until now.

Teacher Sharon Smith said: "Being so close to a military base we are affected quite a lot. We had three new children at the beginning of the year, but during the year we expect to gain some and lose some. We have had a lot of dads being posted overseas and it is very important that we help the children to deal with change. The children are actually extremely resilient and used to having to start all over again - they are very open and confident and they learn how to make friends quickly. It is nice that Princess Anne chose to focus on the servicemen's families during this visit."

Head teacher Julie Carr ended the day by thanking HRH for visiting the school, and the children who took part in a special assembly.  She said: "This is a very, very special occasion for a member of the royal family to spent a good amount of time in our school. This showed a great deal of support for our families, and it will raise morale in the whole community. The plaque officially opening our new school has also been unveiled so this is a special day."

Staff and visitors enjoyed a celebration of afternoon tea once their royal visitor departed. The following day children were entertained by circus skills experts and each class learned a range of exciting circus skills. A special afternoon tea of sandwiches and cup cakes were enjoyed by all the children with a hand decorated certificate in commemoration of the official opening taken home by each child. The school has stated  “This was a memorable occasion and a real morale boost for all in our community! Our thanks to Her Royal Highness for making a difference!”

Royal Visit Gallery
We are pleased to be able to provide a full photographic gallery of visit of The Princess Royal to Lyneham Primary School. If you would like to see the images click here