On Friday we visited Knightsbridge School, right in the
heart of Knightsbridge, just down the road from Harrods. Situated in two huge townhouses, the school
is just six years old but was previously a Hellenic school that closed. This visit came about as one of the students
at the school used to go to Kent Place School in Summit New Jersey and her
mother still regularly reads the Kent Place school newsletter. She saw that I was coming to London and got
in touch. I love how the world works!
The school is beautiful and we were warmly greeted by the
Head of English then taken upstairs to meet the class teacher Isabelle and her students. Ian had dashed off to find coffee as we had
been caught out earlier finding a cab. I
need the caffeine hit once a day to get me going.
Their headmaster is Mr Magoo Giles – now that’s a name for a
character in a book, and I loved that on his office door, there was no
Headmaster or Mr Giles, simply Magoo, in large letters! I would have loved to meet him but he was
busy talking to some parents.
The school has no outdoor space whatsoever, so the children
play in the church hall across the road and have to be bussed to any sporting
activities. They also have exercise bikes in the hallways to burn off some energy too. We are so fortunate in
Australia in terms of area – I can’t imagine never being able to send the kids
for a run around outside.
The school is quite large – around 300 students and is
developing their traditions. They are
also opening satellite schools in other countries.
I signed a postcard for each student and they are planning
to put them into their Alice-Miranda books when they arrive. They were a lively group and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit there.
From Knightsbridge we headed to Random House’s main office
in Vauxhall Bridge Road where I was having a quick meeting with Dame Gail Rebuck,
the CEO. You’d be right in thinking I
was a little nervous, but having already met her once before in Australia and
knowing that her staff think she’s wonderful, as soon as we met my jitters abated. Gail’s office is on the 8th floor
which has the most amazing views of the Thames and the city. We chatted about this and that and it was
great to have an opportunity to thank her for championing Alice-Miranda to come
to the UK. She’s a truly amazing woman
who took over the reins of the company in her late thirties. It was all a bit surreal – if anyone had said
two years ago when we launched Alice-Miranda at home that I’d be meeting Dame
Gail Rebuck in her office in London this week I’d have said they were mad. There’s really not much more to say except
perhaps, wow!
No comments:
Post a Comment