Shotton Pupil to present Royal Posy at Commonwealth Day Service

A pupil from a Church in Wales School in Shotton is to present a posy to a member of the Royal Family at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey today.

Harper Taylor who is nine years old, is one of three pupils from St Ethelwold’s Voluntary Aided School, along with two members of staff, selected to attend the event which celebrates the people and cultures of the Commonwealth nations. The King, along with members of the Royal Family, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, leaders, dignitaries and hundreds of young people, will attend the traditional inter-faith, multi-cultural Commonwealth Day Service of Celebration at Westminster Abbey in London.

Harper will be joined at the service by fellow pupils, Dawid Hajdecki and Vanessa Kopacz, both aged 10, and the school’s head teacher Paul Oliver and school secretary Leanne Duggan. The five are travelling to London early on Monday ready to be in the Abbey in time for the service at 3pm.

The head teacher of St Ethelwold’s Paul Oliver said: “We are thrilled and privileged to have been selected as a school to attend this event. This is a fantastic opportunity for all three children, none of whom have visited London before. Harper was selected by the organisers of the service to be one of the four posy bearers. She is really excited, and I am sure she will do a fantastic job.

“While we’re in London at the service, the rest of the school will have an opportunity to watch the service live on BBC1.”

All the children will be attending the service in their school uniform and will join pupils from other schools across the UK.

St Ethelwold’s Voluntary Aided School in Shotton is one of 49 Church in Wales Schools in the Diocese of St Asaph.

The Commonwealth Service, a celebration of the Commonwealth which is in its 76th anniversary year, will take place at Westminster Abbey on Monday 10 March at 3pm.