A HEADTEACHER of a local primary school was stunned to be told that some of her pupils will meet the Queen next week. Last term Fiona Rickard, of Upwell Primary School, booked a visit to Welney Wildflowl and Wetlands Trust for Year 4 pupils. Last week she

A HEADTEACHER of a local primary school was stunned to be told that some of her pupils will meet the Queen next week.

Last term Fiona Rickard, of Upwell Primary School, booked a visit to Welney Wildflowl and Wetlands Trust for Year 4 pupils.

Last week she received a call from the trust saying the Queen would be there on the same day and would like to talk to the children.

"It was just a brilliant coincidence," said Mrs Rickard. "I was quite amazed and it will be a wonderful experience for the children. They are very excited."

The 16 pupils will be visiting the centre on Monday as part of their curriculum studies and will watch the swans being fed and learn how they are tagged.

Mrs Rickard said: "We went last year and it was such a wonderful experience that we wanted to do it again.

"It is very practical, very hands on, and the sight of the swans flying in is something else."

The Queen will visit the Wetland reserve, in Hundred Foot Bank, to look around the reserve and the eco-friendly visitor centre which was opened in April 2006 and has won numerous awards for its design and sustainability.

The reserve covers 1,000 acres and plays host each winter to thousands of migratory swans from Arctic Russia and Iceland, along with tens of thousands of other wildfowl.