(L-R) Tia Gordon, Samdee Cadby, and Jenai Julien proudly show off their commemorative coins

Youngsters and teachers were given more than a good time at their jubilee party yesterday (Friday) – the headteacher surprised each of them with a special commemorative coin as a present.

Children at St Dominic’s Primary school dressed patriotically in red, white and blue to enjoy a jubilee picnic in the playground in Ballance Road, Homerton.

They would have attended for free, so were thrilled when headteacher Deirdre Finan started handing out money - pretty red souvenir boxes containing Royal Mint coins made to commemorate the Queen’s 60 year reign.

“Everyone was really pleased,” said finance officer Rita Cumber. “We’d had a fete and some of the money raised from that went towards paying for the coins. We thought it would be something special for everyone to mark the day, and was much nicer than giving them a royal mug or something.

“It really made the party special.

“We’d downloaded ‘jubilee music’, with old English songs like ‘Jerusalem’ and the national anthem. Everyone had a really lovely time.”