MBE for Welwyn Garden City school governor

A GOVERNOR at a WGC school travelled to Buckingham Palace to receive an MBE for services to deaf children writes Ross Logan for Welwyn Hatfiled Times (24/02/12).

Tricia Kemp received her medal from the Prince of Wales during a ceremony last Tuesday.


The 58-year-old has been a governor at Knightsfield School for hearing impaired children for 10 years, where her son Alex, now 23, was a pupil. She was so impressed with the school that she used to drive Alex 50 miles from her home in Barnes, south west London, to Knightsfield in WGC every day.


She was joined at the palace by Alex, husband Steve and eldest son Jamie, 27.
Tricia said: “I was very proud and delighted to receive the honour, and hope that in some way it can be used to promote awareness of the difficulties faced by deaf children.
The pupils who attend Knightsfield School are very fortunate to be taught by professional teachers of the deaf in ideal acoustic settings.
This is not the case for many deaf children who are unable to reach their potential simply because they have not had access to enough of the right support throughout their education.
My son is now studying for a BA in graphic product Innovation and I know he would not have had this opportunity without the excellent grounding he received at Knightsfield School.
It is an exemplary school of which I am proud to be a governor.”


Knightsfield headteacher Lucy Leith said: “Tricia’s done absolutely tremendous work for our governing body. She’s a tremendous asset to our governors and parents. We’re absolutely thrilled about this. It’s fantastic news.”