Students and Staff Looking Forward to Royal Prize Day at Buckingham Palace

Friday will be a day to remember for a group of students, staff and governors from City College Norwich, when they will meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace to be presented with the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education.  The College has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its innovative and student-centred work with learners with Aspergers Syndrome and other Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

The prize giving ceremony will take place on the morning of Friday 19th February.  The students and staff will be treated to music in the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace, before they are joined by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh who will present a Prize Medal and certificate to the Principals and Vice Principals from each prize winning institution. The prize giving will be followed by a royal reception, during which the students and staff from the College will have the opportunity to meet the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and talk to them about the work of the College’s RUGroom.

The 21 winners of the Eighth Round of Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education were announced on the 18th of November 2009.  These national honours are awarded every two years to institutions of higher and further education across the UK for work of outstanding excellence. They celebrate world-class achievement in any aspect of an institution’s work which demonstrates originality, innovation and benefit for the wider community.

City College Norwich Principal, Dick Palmer said: “Receiving the Queen’s Anniversary Prize is a huge honour and achievement for City College Norwich and everyone associated with the RUGroom.  This award gives national recognition to the College’s work with students with Aspergers Syndrome, alongside other colleges and universities that are recognised as world leaders in their specialist fields.  The RUGroom has made a real difference to the lives and prospects of students on the Autistic Spectrum by placing the students at the very centre of everything we do.  I hope that this award will highlight that with the right support students with Aspergers Syndrome can not only meet their potential but exceed it.  It will be a very proud day for the College”.              

The students who have been given the honour of representing the College on this important occasion are Katie D’Avila, 19 from Lowestoft, Stephen Czwartacki, 17 from Drayton, Norman Stillwell, 20 from Attleborough, Lewis Wise, 17 from Beccles and Rebecca Hayes, 21 from Halesworth, Suffolk.  

Student Rebecca Hayes said: “I’m really excited. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, my parents are really excited that I will be meeting the Queen”. Lewis Wise also expressed his excitement about meeting Her Majesty and fellow student Norman Stillwell said: “It’s very posh, I’m going to have to behave and dress very smartly.”

City College Norwich’s RUGroom offers a safe haven and a social and study space for students with Aspergers Syndrome (AS) and other Autistic Spectrum Disorders.  The unique ingredient has been the involvement of the College’s AS learners – who named themselves “The Really Useful Group” - in the design of an AS friendly physical environment which developed into the RUGroom.  The RUGroom was opened in February 2008 by Charles Clarke MP and has since won a string of awards in recognition of the excellence of its leading edge work.