Grand Day 2023 a rare hot sunny day for this year! The ice-cream truck was out early and the bar nearly ran dry! It was of course a spectacular day enjoyed by parents, alumni and staff. It was great to see a good number of alumni in attendance, even though I didn't get the chance to speak to many of you, as I was required to help out on the gate and behind the bar!

The bar is run by the Friends of DOYRMS, and is made up of parental volunteers who organise the whole setup and run it. Of course, they wish to see and suppoirt their children during the Trooping of the Colour, so it was up to a few staff to stand in and help out. If you tried to get a drink during this time, you will know how busy it was! 

I would like to personally thank all of those parents who took a day out of their busy schedules to supply and serve refreshments (and with a quick visit to Tescos) managed to keep the beer flowing.

I would also like to particularly mention Megan Birch, who left in 2018 and was helping as her dad is one of the volunteers. We had a good chat and came up with a few ideas regarding the class of 2020 who of course did not have a Grand Day. If any of you are in touch with anyone from that year group, please encourage them to get in touch with me as I would like to organise something for them as they missed out on so much.

The inspection this year was carried out by guest of honour Colonel Carlos Mª Coira Torres and the aerial display was performed by RLC Silver Stars Army Parachute Display Team.

SUO Daisy will be off to Sandhurst soon as she received an Army Scholarship last year, so I would like to wish her well. Drum Major Kieran, who has had a spectacular year already after having led the band during the Coronation in May is also off to join the Army.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the leavers of 2023 good luck in their next steps, don't forget to stay in touch - you have a whole network of Dukies here who are always ready and willing to help out fellow Dukies.

You can see all of the photos and the video from Grand Day in the attached gallery.