School wins royal seal of approval

A Cambridge school has won The Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its promotion of art in the community.

The award was presented by the Queen and Prince Philip to Hills Road Sixth Form College in recognition of the outstanding way the college’s art and design department works with the community.

The principal, Rob Wilkinson, and the chair of the college’s governing body, Professor Peter Goddard, accompanied a group of staff and students to the ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

And the group was given a tour of the Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace thanks to some royal intervention.

The head of art and design, Ted Coney, said: “We had all met the Queen and Prince Philip and then Princess Anne came along.

She was very keen we should see the royal collection in the Queen’s Gallery because we were the only group which had won a prize for art.

“An equerry came to tell us we could jump the queue and we didn’t have to pay the £10 entry fee. It was very nice of the princess.”

Aspects of the college’s work praised in the awards ceremony included the large number of artists in residence who work with the students, and also the extensive range of work students undertake in the community.

These include the installation of sculptures in the new Jubilee Cycleway, off Newmarket Road, and murals at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

A reception will be held at the college on Friday, March 21, so everyone involved can celebrate.

That day also marks the start of the annual professional artists’ exhibition, which runs throughout the weekend.