Children celebrate friendship with their own royal wedding ceremony

The royal guest list on the day included children playing the parts of the Queen, Prince Phillip and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Pupils Harry Scott and Olivia Bell made vows and exchanged friendship rings in a ceremony led by a pupil taking on the part of the vicar. Many of the children formed a choir and performed two songs in the ceremony led by teacher Nathan Bird. Catriona Goldsmith, head teacher, said: “Palatine is a unique and welcoming environment where children and their families are put at the heart of all we do. Today has been a fantastic whole school celebration where our pupils have demonstrated their increasing skills and confidence. They have worked as a team and, as usual, shown a high degree of kindness, compassion and politeness to visitors. “We are proud of all that they achieve and of the warm, purposeful and welcoming learning environment we have created where everyone is accepted, everyone is valued and everyone is empowered.” Wedding-themed packed lunches were prepared by the kitchen staff at the school for the pupils to enjoy as part of a picnic in the sunshine. In the afternoon, pupils took part in the reception party with games, dancing and cake on the school field. Students from St Phillip Howard Catholic School, Barnham, provided musical entertainment, with one pupil saying that the music made them happy. Palatine Primary School is for pupils with special educational needs. It educates children between the ages of four and 11 with moderate, severe or profound learning needs, many of whom have associated sensory, motor and communication difficulties including autistic spectrum conditions. Catriona said: “It saddens me that as the head teacher of this wonderful school I have to make tough financially driven decisions about what we can and cannot do because of the funding we receive. The children here have received no more funding per pupil than those who attended the school in 2006. This is about £3,000 less per child than those in special schools nationally and £10,000 less than those in special schools in London. “This is a wonderful school where the pupils and their families are inspiring; it is unjust that they do not receive the funding that they rightly deserve.”