Kate Middleton launched an Interactive trail as part of Early Years Program

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Andrew Parsons//Kensington Palace

The Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, was a picture of professional elegance today when she visited National Portrait Gallery to launch a new initiative of The Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood aimed at supporting young children in the development of social and emotional skills. The Princess of Wales is the patron of National Portrait Gallery since 2011. Kate established the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood in June 2021.

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Andrew Parsons//Kensington Palace

The Princess of Wales arrived at the National Portrait Gallery in a bus with school children from from All Souls CE Primary School in London. Princess Kate Middleton’s visit to the National Portrait Gallery highlighted a new exhibition linked to her early years work. Developed by The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood and the National Portrait Gallery, the interactive trail aims to help four and five-year-olds develop crucial life skills.

Andrew Parsons//Kensington Palace

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Part of Kate’s legacy project ‘Early years’,  this project marks the first implementation of the new Shaping Us Framework, which aims to increase society’s understanding of social and emotional skills development. The Princess of Wales launched ‘Shaping Us’ program in 2023. ‘Shaping US’ was developed after leading participation from global expertise from academics, clinicians, and practitioners in human development. The program was launched after a new report was released by the Early Childhood center this week. Princess Kate Middleton wrote a forward for the report:

Andrew Parsons//Kensignton Palace
Andrew Parsons//Kensignton Palace

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“To create a physically and mentally healthier society, we must reset, restore, and rebalance… That means taking a profound look at ourselves and our own behaviours, emotions, and feelings. It means getting much better at acting with compassion and empathy towards one another… better understanding how we can protect and build upon what connects and unites us… and acknowledging that society is something we build together, through the actions we take every day. At the heart of all of this is the need for us to develop and nurture a set of social and emotional skills which we must prioritise if we are to thrive”.

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Andrew Parsons//Kensington Palace

In this project, the children will explore how faces express feelings and create their own self-portrait.  The interactive experience included listening to audio recordings, using props, and exploring facial expressions in the portraits. Young participants were encouraged to think about their own lives, feelings and thoughts while creating self-portraits. Pupils from All Souls CE Primary School in London were the first children to take part in The Bobeam Tree Trail, which saw them journey through the Gallery using portraits as the basis for a range of activities that enable them to use and develop different social and emotional skills. The Bobeam Tree Trail at the National Portrait Gallery will run from Tuesday 4 February to Sunday 16 March 2025 and is completely free to take part in.



Andrew Parsons//Kensington Palace

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Alix Ascough, executive headteacher at All Souls, said: “She [the Princess] had been asked if she would have a partner, and she was sat next to Grace on the coach and Grace had chatted away to her the whole journey.” But the reception student did not know she was holding hands with the future Queen. “She knew it was a very special visitor,” added Miss Ascough. “We told her she was a princess. She just called her Catherine.” – The Telegraph

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Andrew Parsons//Kensington Palace

As described the Royal Foundation center for Early Childhood,  “The trail is based on a magical tree, which has grown inside the National Portrait Gallery. All that is known about this rare and unusual tree, which has beautiful, colourful leaves, is that it thrives when surrounded by stories. The children are asked to help the Bobeam Tree by taking part in activities around the Gallery to discover the stories of people through portraits – listening to audio recordings, using props, exploring facial expressions and finally, by thinking about their own lives, feelings and thoughts while creating a self-portrait. At the end of the trail, children can choose to feed their portrait to the tree, so it grows big and strong“.

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Andrew Parsons//Kensington Palace
Andrew Parsons//Kensington Palace

During her visit to the NPG, Kate Middleton joined the children and their teachers for part of the trail during which they spent time together exploring how faces can express feelings and emotions. She also accompanied them as they drew self-portraits, an exercise to encourage them to think about their own stories.

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Andrew Parsons//Kensington Palace

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Whilst at the Gallery, Princess Kate also met Victoria Siddall, the newly appointed Director of the National Portrait Gallery, as well as Chief Executives and expert practitioners from five other galleries from around the UK who will be working with The Centre for Early Childhood to consider how they could amplify the new Shaping Us Framework in their own organisations to support the social and emotional development of thousands more children around the country. The Centre for Early Childhood is also working with organisations across a variety of sectors, on how the framework can be used to promote social and emotional skills across society. You can read about Princess Kate Middleton’s journey with her legacy project Early Childhood here.

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What Princess Kate Middleton wore to National Portrait Gallery

 

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