Camelsdale School

Over 200 children were asked the question, “Do you want to be a Member of the Royal Society of St George”? The resounding reply, which very nearly lifted the roof of the Hall off, was “YES”.

On Tuesday 10th November 2015 Camelsdale Primary School was the first school in England to be affiliated to the Royal Society of St George. At a Special Assembly the Head Teacher, Sarah Palmer, spoke about how the Haslemere Branch created excitement and fun with the visit of St George, the Dragon and the Maidens on St Georges Day and how the ethos of the school mirrored the values of St George and an English person. The children then explained the many different stories about St George.

Our Society Chairman, Joanna Cadman, then inducted the School as an Associate Member by formally presenting the Head Boy and Head Girl with the schools Affiliation Certificate.

Following the presentation of Affiliation Certificate the Chairman, of the Haslemere Branch, Nick Hinchliffe with the Mayor of Haslemere, Cllr Melanie Odell, presented a Shield emblazoned with the Societies Coat of Arms, to be competed for annually. It will be awarded to the child who best displays adherence to the values of St George and the School Ethos.

The Special Assembly closed with a poem about St George and the singing of The National Anthem. The children of the senior classes stayed to ask questions about many things English of the guests.

This event is the culmination of the first stage of the ‘Community Development Plan’ by the Haslemere Branch. From, on St Georges Day, getting the shops to decorate their windows, taking St George, the Dragon and Maiden (Head Boy, Head Girl and Teacher, from the local secondary school) around the nursery and primary schools and the distributing of ‘English’ red roses, appreciated by all of the Haslemere ‘Maidens’, to having a clear presence at the Christmas and Charter Fairs we are telling the town that the Society is a force to be valued. We have built on this by showing Camelsdale Primary School that the Society can support the children’s education, learning and development through information about historical events, with Members visiting the school to lead assemblies, supporting teaching within the classroom, running competitions (ie The RSoSG St George Essay Competition), visits to Parliament and The Tower of London and welcoming representatives of the pupils to The Cenotaph, to lay wreaths.

It is the children of today who will become the Members of tomorrow. We, through this ‘plan’ are leaving the children with a warm glow of positive activity which will encourage them to return as adults and do the same for their children and grandchildren.

Our next stage of the ‘Plan’ is to rollout the induction of Associate Membership to the first Secondary School and then all schools in and around Haslemere, and then England. The Youth of Today is Our Future.

I am delighted that Camelsdale Primary School has become the first school to be affiliated to the Royal Society of St George. It was such a pleasure to meet the Head Teacher, staff and pupils at the school last week, and I look forward to a very enjoyable and productive liaison between the Society and the School.

I am more than grateful to Haslemere branch for this initiative and I do hope that this is something that other branches will consider. It is very rewarding to work with schools in your area, and to encourage them to an interest in and knowledge of our Patron Saint and England’s traditions and values. And, the children of today are our members of tomorrow, and the life blood of our Society.

Please do email me at joanna@joannacadman.com for more information.