Kate Middleton meeting a 'privilege' for East Yorkshire headteacher

AN EAST Riding headteacher has described the moment she met the Duchess of Cambridge as an "absolute privilege and an honour".

Goole High School headteacher Danuta Tomasz met Kate Middleton on board the Royal Princess cruise ship, on what was the Duchess's last official engagement before the birth of her baby.

Mrs Tomasz, along with co-headteacher Dave Flowitt, got the chance to rub shoulders with royalty after receiving a surprise invite to the naming of the new 2,300-passenger cruise liner this week.

Speaking about meeting the Duchess, Mrs Tomasz said:"I felt so privileged and it was such an honour to attend the event and even better to actually meet Kate and to get the chance to talk about our ongoing work with SkillForce."

Their overnight stay on the luxury launch included a star-spangled gala dinner and then attendance at the naming ceremony, on the quayside.

The school's out-of-the-blue invite came thanks to their ongoing partnership with education specialist charity, SkillForce, whose patron is Prince William.

The Prince had issued invites to all the charities he supports and SkillForce chose to include Goole High School on its invitation.

Skillforce, whose instructors are mainly ex-Armed Forces personnel, has run programmes in the school during the past 18 months, aimed at helping to raise aspirations and self-esteem among a selection of students and, in turn, helping them develop their learning skills.

The school was featured on national TV when it was filmed by a BBC news crew as the charity successfully launched its mentoring scheme at the Centenary Road site last year.

Currently, the charity is working with students in Years 7 to 9, delivering an Ethos programme. Projects have involved learning new confidence-building skills such as karate as well as the exploration of attitudes to standards and values.

Commenting on the school's association with SkillForce, Mr Flowitt said: "The programme has been a great success. Since it began last year there has been a brilliant turnaround for all the students involved."

SkillForce chief executive Peter Cross invited Mrs Tomasz to talk to the Duchess about the charity's work in schools.

Mr Flowitt also enjoyed his stop-over on the luxury liner, describing the Royal Princess as "stunning" and like "a floating city".