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21 July 2017
The Royal School is very proud of having nearly 180 years of naval heritage. When the School was founded in 1840 it was a forward thinking and pioneering project to educate the daughters of naval officers. The School’s expansion to educate boys within the diamond structure is equally pioneering, being the only school in Surrey where pupils benefit academically from single-sex classes at key points in their learning.
To mark the school’s connection with the Royal Navy, the School was recently affiliated to HMS Diamond and Year 7 pupils were fortunate to receive an invitation to visit the ship at Portsmouth on 27 June.
The timing of the trip coincided perfectly with our affiliation to HMS Diamond and Mr Taylor-Gooby, Head of Year 7 Transition, and Year 7 were given a guided tour of the ship and met officers and crew. The officers proudly showed pupils the Royal School teddy on board which they had been given previously by Mrs Lynch, Principal of The Royal School, and said that they would hang up photos taken of the visit when they go on deployment to the Gulf for nine months.
The tour was followed by lunch on a passenger vessel and a tour of the harbour, with several pupils had the opportunity to steer!
Finally, the school had a tour and learnt about the work of HMS Hurworth, a Hunt Class Minehunter.
Mr Taylor-Gooby commented, “It was the perfect opportunity for our Year 7s to make a personal connection to our affiliate ship, HMS Diamond, and meet some of the crew who will soon head off for a nine-month deployment. It is an exciting development in The Royal School’s strengthening of its naval links.”
