Royal Visit to the Laurels School in Clapham Park

Lady Nicholas Windsor visited The Laurels School in Clapham Park on Friday 20 November 2015 where she spent the morning meeting with pupils and staff and touring the school. Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor are patrons of PACT Educational Trust, which runs four schools in south London including The Laurels.

Pupils greeted Lady Nicholas Windsor upon her arrival and eagerly showed her some of their Latin project work, she was delighted to see their model Roman villas and discussed the various aspects of Roman life with the girls, having read Classics at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge herself.  She observed a Character Development lesson in which she took a particular interest.  Lady Nicholas Windsor expressed her real pleasure in the progress the school has made since opening its doors in 2013.

Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor support the work of PACT’s four schools:  The Laurels;  two preparatory schools – Oliver House in Clapham and Oakwood in Purley; and The Cedars, a boys’ secondary school in South Croydon.  All PACT schools are underpinned by a Catholic ethos and a unique character development programme which runs through all aspects of school life.

Character Development is gaining increased attention in the education sector given the direct correlation with the wider benefits to individuals and society and the links with higher educational attainment. The Laurels School’s Headmistress, Linda Sanders, an executive team member of the Association of Character Development based at the University of Birmingham’s Jubilee Centre of Character and Values, said, “It is a great privilege for us to welcome our Patron, Lady Nicholas Windsor, who so wholly supports the ethos of the schools and for pupils to have the opportunity to get to know her and share their school experiences with her.”

A Year 8 Laurels School pupil commented:

It was exciting to meet Lady Nicholas Windsor, she was so friendly and really interested in all the things we do here. She liked my Roman Villa and asked me all about it.”