Crystal Palace Day at Quest Primary!

On Friday 16^th May, Quest Primary held a special red & blue day where pupils were invited to wear their Crystal Palace kits, or red and blue, ahead of the Crystal Palace V Manchester City FA Cup Final on the Saturday 17^th May. As a school we wanted to show our support for our local South London team ahead of their appearance in the Final, in what turned out to be a history-making match for the club.

The school was awash with red and blue – there were streamers on doors, bunting, flags, hundreds of balloons adorning the corridors and playground, a special red and blue carpet and even cardboard cut outs of some of the CPFC star players! Added to the sea of red and blue of all of the children and staff in their shirts and colours, it was quite a sight to behold! During the day we were joined by staff from the Palace for Life Foundation who helped support the events we were running at school, brought some giveaways for the children and also brought a very special visitor – Pete the Eagle, the CPFC mascot! The pupils were delighted to meet Pete, with lots of happy smiles, squeals of excitement and high fives taking place!

Classes were all involved in Crystal Palace themed activities – playing a mini-football tournament, completing football drills, decorating CPFC themed cupcakes, designing new Palace kits, creating mini–FA Cup trophies, and making signs of support for the team. After, the whole school came together to record a good luck message to the club, which was shared on our social media platforms and was viewed over 6,700 times!

Excitingly, we were contacted by BBC London who had heard about our red & blue day and wanted to come and share in the excitement. On Friday, Miss Stawman and 4 pupils did some live radio interviews with reporter Gem O’Reilly, and BBC London TV filmed content with their reporter, Nick Slegg, featuring Mrs Childs, Mr Kenealy, Miss Baines and pupils. On Saturday, BBC London released social media content on their Instagram channels featuring three QPS pupils making score predictions for the match. On Monday, following Palace’s win, BBC Radio and TV both returned to Quest Primary to capture reactions to Palace’s win from more pupils and staff who were at Wembley for the match – Mrs Adams and Mrs Baldry – who were both overcome with emotion and shed a tear on live radio! You can see and hear some of our broadcasts on our YouTube channel.

We are hugely grateful for all the support received to help make this a day that the children will never forget – a day that promoted coming together as a local community, being supportive of others, and sharing in the happiness, joy and excitement that the occasion brought. It was a day that promoted inclusivity and aspiration – and knowing that whatever your dreams may be, you have a chance of realising them if you are committed, dedicated and have a positive attitude.