King of Greece visits Felsted School for European youth conference

PUPILS became politicians when Felsted hosted a European Round Square Conference and Britain’s inaugural youth conference.

Nearly 100 staff and student delegates from across Europe spent the weekend undertaking numerous activities at the school, with a Model United Nations meeting allowing those who attended to discuss real world events whilst trying to find plausible solutions.

The theme for the conference was ‘Creating Ideals’, linking closely with the pillars of the Round Square: internationalism, democracy, environment, adventure, leadership and service.

The conference was described by the European regional director of the Round Square, Helmuth Aigner, headmaster of Landheim Schondorf School in Germany, as “a new benchmark in the quality of conferences, showing East Anglia to be leading in this radical approach to education and allowing students to be educated beyond exam results”.

King Constantine II of Greece, patron of the Round Square, attended the conference and delivered an address to the students, encompassing creativity in young people.

Felstedian Sarah Brook delivered an impressive speech about a charity she has established, Sparkle Malawi.

Whilst still studying at Exeter University, Miss Brook established her charity and helped build an orphanage for 250 children, offering them hope and opportunities they would not have had otherwise.

The weekend culminated in Felsted’s school production of Sunset Boulevard.

The delegates thoroughly enjoyed the challenging and spectacular performance, with King Constantine II dubbing it “the best school show I have ever seen”.