IT was anything but a typical school day for Hackney youngster Safak Gunes when he presented flowers to the Queen.

The 12-year-old pupil at City Academy in Homerton Row presented her with a posy after she had toured KPMG’s new headquarters in Canada Square, Canary Wharf, last Friday.

Smartly dressed in the academy’s red blazer, Safak hid his nerves at the prospect of meeting the monarch.

“I said: ‘Good morning your Majesty Queen Elizabeth’,” he explained.

“She asked me what school did I go to, so I said: ‘City Academy Hackney’.”

Professional services firm KPMG is a sponsor of the academy, which opened two years ago and now has 400 year seven and eight pupils.

“Safak is an exemplary student” said principal Mark Emmerson, who also attended the opening ceremony.

“He is a very well-behaved, well-mannered, hard-working, well-presented pupil.”