The new Queen made her first official royal visit since her Coronation today - to a primary school in north west Bristol. Queen Camilla launched a national Coronation Libraries initiative at Shirehampton Primary School in Bristol, meeting pupils and teachers from ten other schools that have created libraries in their schools.
The Queen also met leading children’s authors and joined pupils in a lesson to create their ‘dream library’. The initiative will see 50 ‘Coronation Libraries’ that will be created in schools across the UK in the next year to mark her and King Charles’ Coronation earlier this month.
HRH joined author and former Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell, who wrote the ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ series of children’s books, in a session to design a library, with representatives from Arts Council England, the publishers Oxford University Press and the the National Literacy Trust, leading the Coronation Library project, also involved.
In pictures: Thousands turn out for Bristol's Coronation street parties
After that design session, the Queen was then given a tour of Shirehampton Primary School’s new Coronation Library by its two pupil librarians. There, Horrid Henry author Francesca Simon was holding a reading session.
At the new library, the Queen unveiled a plaque marking the official opening of the school’s Coronation Library, and met some of the National Literacy Trust’s key supporters.
The hour long visit was packed with more authors including Malorie Blackman. After unveiling the plaque and "giving it a good tap for good luck", the Queen moved on to join Shirehampton’s Key Stage 2 pupils in the school hall, who were getting an expert lesson in drawing by Odd Dog author Rob Biddulph.
Shirehampton Year 6 pupils Oritse and Shanan showed the Queen their new Coronation Library before infants Evan, 5 and Daisy, 6 gave her flowers to thank her for her visit.
The KS1 and nursery pupils welcomed the Queen to a Coronation tea party in glorious sunshine in the playground, and sang her Hey Tiger, a song from The Tiger Who Came To Tea.
The theme of the Queen’s first solo royal visit since the Coronation was pointed - she has long been a strong advocate of reading and literacy in schools, and also of schools having their own libraries.
To mark the Coronation, the Primary School Library Alliance is creating 50 new libraries in schools in the next year - starting with the one in Shirehampton.
“The reading spaces will be established in communities with low levels of literacy and whose children in the Coronation year are least likely to have books at home,” said a spokesperson for the initiative. “Each library or reading space will be refurbished, restocked and a member of staff will be trained to manage both the space and a range of reading activities for the whole school.
“The 50 Libraries will also receive a set of 23 books, chosen by children from across the country, which will bear a commemorative bookplate featuring the Coronation emblem. In addition, a commemorative plaque will be placed in each library,” they added.
As well as being the first of the 50 Coronation Libraries, Shirehampton is also the 500th school to be part of the National Literacy Trust’s wider scheme.
Read more:
