It must’ve been a sight to see the Princess of Wales hop off a London minibus and walk, with a group of schoolchildren, to the National Portrait Gallery!
Catherine, joined by students from All Souls CE Primary School, launched the newest project from her Shaping Us initiative at the National Portrait Gallery—of which she’s patron—an interactive emotional and social skill-building activity called the Bobeam Tree Trail.
As they walked past portraits of Winston Churchill and Catherine’s great-grandfather-in-law, George VI, Catherine could be heard telling the crowd that the Bobeam Tree Trail is “a great way for children to engage and understand other peoples’ perspectives in a creative and less intimidating way.”
She added that she’s “excited to be using portraiture to explore social and emotional skills” because it’s an untapped potential and “to make it accessible to lots of kids so it’s not just in school but is something that’s embraced by the community.”
According to a Kensington Palace press release, the Bobeam Tree Trail is a ‘magical tree’ that grows inside the National Portrait Gallery and encourages children to help it thrive by taking part in activities at various points in the building. Young people will learn the stories of the people behind the portraits with audio recordings, usage of props, learning about facial expressions and using themselves and their own experiences as tools to empathise and create their own self-portrait, which they then feed to the Bobeam Tree to help it grow.
The All Souls CE Primary School’s executive head teacher, Alix Ascough, complimented Catherine to reporters, calling her “chatty with the children” and “complimenting the children on how well behaved they were and what good artists they were because they had the opportunity to draw pictures.”
Catherine shared a personal message on the Kensington Palace social media after her visit, writing that “It was fantastic to see The Centre for Early Childhood’s Shaping Us Framework, which is based on key science, expressed in such an innovative, creative and fun way at the National Portrait Gallery today.
“The Bobeam Tree Trail is a brilliant example of how organisations can embrace the principles of social and emotional development, and the Centre’s framework, to engage children and families in their communities.
“I hope that many people will be able to enjoy it over the coming weeks! Thank you to the National Portrait Gallery and to the staff and pupils of All Souls CE Primary School for a brilliant day. C.”
