Northumberland school pupils come face to face with King Charles on end-of-term trip to London

A group of Northumberland school children enjoyed an unexpected encounter when they took an end-of-term trip to London and found themselves face to face with the King.

The Year 5 pupils from St Aidan’s Catholic Primary School in Ashington and St Paul’s Catholic Primary School in Alnwick, were visiting The Mall when they saw the monarch.

“King Charles drove past at the end of The Mall and waved to all our children, just by chance,” explained St Aidan’s Headteacher, Michael Moran. “They loved it – we were so lucky.”

The 30 children from St Aidan’s and 25 from St Paul’s – both members of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust – enjoyed an action-packed day in the capital, where they visited London Zoo, and took in some of the city’s famous sights, including Westminster Bridge, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Downing Street, the Horse Guards Parade, and Buckingham Palace.

“London was amazing, because it’s so big and so different to Ashington,” said Lacey, who was one of the St Aidan’s pupils who took part in the trip.“My favourite part was the King waving at us when we didn’t expect it.”

Her classmates were in agreement, with Leo saying, “It was really exciting – especially when we saw King Charles in his car going to Buckingham Palace,” while Luca added: “London is the best trip I’ve ever been on. I loved it because it’s bigger, and much busier than Newcastle.”

“London was extraordinary because you got to see all the famous landmarks and animals,” agreed Jack. “One of my favourite parts was seeing the Emirates Football Stadium on the train ride into London – it was so big.”

“We did this to show our children the places in our country where our decisions are made, and to give them an idea of what our capital is like,” continued Mr Moran.

“It is really important for our children to have life experiences like this and make memories – to see their faces when they look up and see Big Ben for the first time is amazing. It’s important that the children can see what is out there in the world and to be able to see how they can be part of it.”

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http://www.st-aidans.northumberland.sch.uk/