Neena's Investiture

Wednesday 10th November 2021 was a once in a lifetime day for our headteacher, Neena.

After waiting for almost 2 years due to lockdown, Neena was finally able to travel to Windsor Castle to receive her very well deserved OBE for her services to education.

Our newly appointed Junior Leadership Team met Neena on Friday where they congratulated her and presented her with a bouquet of flowers on behalf of all the pupils. They also had the opportunity to ask her some questions about her very special day.

Our head boy, Dilpreet Singh had a very important question. Did Neena meet the queen?

"Unfortunately I didn't meet the queen but I was very honoured to to receive my medal from Prince Charles. It is a great privilege to meet any member of the Royal Family and now I am lucky enough to say that I have met all 4 of the queen's children. Unfortunately, I did not get to see the queen but was advised by one of the investiture guards the she was in residence at Windsor Castle."

Neriah, our head girl wanted to know what Neena wore and who her guest of honour was!

"Because of Covid restrictions I was only able to invite one guest and without question I knew who I had to take. My mum. She is my hero and this was a very special way of saying thank you to her for everything she has done for me. I wore a full length black dress that had gold accents on it and I wore a black velvet jacket. It was a very formal occasion so I had to dress up and the invitation said I had to wear a headpiece. I wore a gold fascinator to match my mum who wore a gold sari."

Our deputy head boy, Abdur Rahman asked what Windsor Castle was like.

"It was simply beautiful! Grand! Opulent! Elegant! Palatial! It is like a museum inside the castle with huge, huge paintings and cabinets with glass windows full of priceless and historical artefacts. There was even a large marble statue of Queen Victoria and there are soldiers guarding everything. The occasion was full of pomp and ceremony. Pomp and Ceremony is connected to our British royal family's traditions that go back centuries, so it was very special to be a part of that."

Aisha, our deputy head girl wondered how Neena felt as she was given her OBE.

I felt scared! I was so nervous and overwhelmed and I had to take some very deep breaths and my mum whispered to me, 'Calm down Neena, you will be great!' Prince Charles also put me at ease and he asked me about our school which is my favourite thing to talk about and once I started talking about St. Stephen's I felt much better! Neena concluded that it was a great honour to be part of such a special occasion and it was a dream of a day that she will never forget!

On behalf of the entire school federation, we want to congratulate Neena once again on this wonderful achievement and thank her for everything she does to lead our school. We are very proud and very lucky to have you as our headteacher.