HRH Royal Ceremony at Sacred Heart College 4/11/09

PRESS RELEASE

Gold Award Ceremony
Mix and Mingle with Bronze and Silver
Sacred Heart College
Lower Hutt
Wednesday 4 November 2009.

His Royal Highness wears Korowai cloak.

At Sacred Heart College on Wednesday 4 November His Royal Highness The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex KG KCVO arrived wearing his own Korowai Maori cloak. This gesture was greeted enthusiastically by Tawai Frost Head of Maori Language at Sacred Heart College who considered this to be a great honour.

His Royal Highness was at Sacred Heart College Lower Hutt to present 16 Gold Awardees of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award with their Gold Certificates and to mix and mingle with 125 Bronze and Silver Awardees. A Whakatau welcomed him into the College Gymnasium and the College Kapa Haka group performed a Waiata at the end of Principal Lisl Prendergast’s speech.

The Award Programme is part of the very fabric of Sacred Heart College; they enrol over 200 students annually into the Programme and have averaged 18 Gold recipients per year over the last 5 years.

The late Sister Marie Gabrielle Wright was a strong stalwart of The Award at Sacred Heart College for many years and was a positive role model and advocate. She regularly tramped with all levels of the Award.

His Royal Highness formally congratulated recipients and spent time talking to those involved in The Award including the parents who were present.

ENDS

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