Oxford schoolchildren performed for Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, in support of a new museum which needs to raise £6m before it opens in 2014.
Year four pupils from Pegasus School and St Ebbes performed stories for the prince at the Oxford Story Museum on Wednesday afternoon. Prince Edward was given a tour of the building on Pembroke Street before being treated to stories performed by the children in the Story Exchange room.
Lia Parson, nine, and Alissa Twist, eight, from Pagasus School performed The Monkey and the Hat Seller. Jill Hudson, head of Pegasus School, said: “We are a story-telling school, which means that the school is always filled with laughter.
“Life is about learning and stories contain magic, learning, fun and excitement. I think this new museum will be absolutely fantastic. It will help to bring the magic of stories to life. We celebrate everything else in the world, so why not celebrate stories?”
Children’s author Micheal Rosen, the museum’s curator of stories, who introduced the children’s stories, said: “I always think the thing about stories is that they are a marriage between ideas and magic. You never know what you will learn.”
To celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Prince Edward carried out a series of royal visits this week. On Wednesday, he also visited East Oxford Primary School in Union Street, Amey Plc in Edmund Halley Road and The Hub in Turl Street to hear about the work of Oxford Community Foundation.
The Story Museum hopes to increase Oxford’s chances of becoming a Unesco World Book Capital in 2014, the year the museum officially opens to the public. A public appeal was launched in 2010 to help the museum raise £11m needed to transform its premises into a visitor attraction and teaching facility for schools. The museum still needs to raise £6m before it opens.
