Tuesday, 05 June 2012

Two visitors from the Commonwealth enjoyed a festive visit to Our Lady of Grace Primary School, Prestwich, on Friday 1st June. Monsignor Brian Walsh and Mrs Elizabeth (Libby) Seir from Melbourne, Australia, joined 422 children along with teachers and other staff for a celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee.

Monsignor Walsh and Mrs Seir are staying in Our Lady of Grace parish with their old friend, Monsignor John Allen, on their way to the International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Dublin next week.

Miss Pat Jones, head teacher, took the visitors round the school. They visited the nursery children who were dressed in special clothes for their party; the Key Stage 1 (infant) children, enjoying a fish-and-chip snack along with dainty Jubilee cakes; the lower Key Stage 2 (lower juniors) having a party on the terrace outside their classrooms, at long tables decorated with the union flag; and the upper Key Stage 2 (upper juniors) competing in Jubilee games on the sports field. All the children were given Jubilee hats to wear. The visitors too were presented with their own hats.

Monsignor Walsh (who in 1986 was the main organiser of the visit to Australia of Pope Blessed John Paul II and who received the OBE at Buckingham Palace from the late Queen Mother) said: “Her Majesty deserves all the happiness of this Jubilee. She has given wonderful service to Britain and the Commonwealth throughout her life. The children will have memories to treasure for years to come.”

Please visit the Gallery for more photographs.