Big excitement reigned at Levin East School earlier this week because of some right royal mail.
The Year 2/3 students in Room 17 at Levin East school had received a letter from the United Kingdom. Several weeks ago, the students had been learning about British culture as part of a unit to explore the cultures of everyone in their class. Kirsty Bennett, Room 17's teacher, was born in Britain.
"The children really got into it," Mrs Bennett said. "They loved hearing all about Big Ben, Tower Bridge and the Queen herself. So we decided to write to the Queen to show Her Majesty what we've been learning. The children also drew some amazing pictures of some of the structures in London."
Several cards and letters were written and posted off to the UK. The children had written things such as, "What's it like being the Queen?" and "I really like your dresses" and "We found out that Big Ben is the name of the biggest bell in the tower, not the actual tower".
Room 17 was hopeful of a reply, but Mrs Bennett had also prepared them to not get anything back, explaining how busy the Queen is. However, on Tuesday September 17, Mrs Bennett was handed an official looking envelope with the royal seal on the front.