RIYADH, 27 March 2006 — The multinational school of Riyadh put on a colorful display for a visit by Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, yesterday. Greeted by Julia Johnson, the principal of the school, and lines of smiling children waving the flags of their home countries, the duchess was happily surprised by the warmth of the reception.
During a tour of the school building, escorted by the principal, she met children and staff in their classrooms. Sitting with the pupils, the duchess chatted about their latest efforts at art and poetry and asked about their home countries. The school roll boasts over 700 pupils from over 30 nationalities.
The school was founded in 1998 by the current principal, Julia Johnson, after she found that there were no schools in the capital that accepted students with learning difficulties or special needs.
These included at the time her son Simon, now a mainstream pupil.
The school has a well-developed Special Needs Unit and has an internationally accredited curriculum.
After the classroom tour, the duchess was treated to a lively choral medley of songs from childhood cartoon favorites presented by the younger pupils in the school.
Wearing what she described has her ‘traveling clothes,” the duchess left the school to depart to India for the next leg of the tour with Prince Charles.
