Marshland High School’s alternative curriculum Duke of Edinburgh group, who have recently completed their Silver Awards, were invited to meet Prince Edward at the Royal Norfolk Show.

A school spokesman said: “There were only four schools who were asked to attend from the Norfolk area, so this was an outstanding opportunity for the group.

“The group were introduced to Prince Edward by Tony Lucas the school’s Duke of Edinburgh Co-ordinator, and HRH spoke at length about the group’s experiences during Duke of Edinburgh. The students did exceptionally well and responded positively and with confidence to questions.”

The spokesman added: “At the end of the presentation the prince even made the effort to come back to speak to the Marshland students to say goodbye and to wish them a ‘great rest of the day’”.

The students were then presented with their Silver Duke of Edinburgh certificates and badges from Phil Brown, the regional director of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme. Mr Brown is also an Olympian, winning a silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles games and he spoke inspirationally to the group and let them hold the medal.

The spokesman said: “It was a fantastic day that the group and the school are quite rightly very proud of and that they will never forget.”