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Paralympian Rachael Latham joined forces with Sportivator Tony to put on a spectacular day of fitness fun at Beaconside School! Rachael is a former Paralympic swimmer who competed in Beijing 2008 and is the current European record holder for 200m butterfly, world record holder for 50m butterfly and 200m backstroke British record holder.

Not only did the whole school get behind their peers to cheer them through the fitness circuit, they also received an inspirational assembly about Rachael’s life as an athlete, highlighting all the benefits sport has provided her both socially and academically.

Beaconside School reports, “It was a rare treat to have such a wonderful role model for the pupils of Beaconside in our school. It’s fantastic to know the pupils at Beaconside will have directly contributed to future British sporting success! Few children can say they have ever played such a pivotal role in supporting British athletes. It’s great to know children at Beaconside can have a role in the wider community and contribute to it in a positive way, this fits in brilliantly with our mission statement of ‘Learning to Live and Learning to Shine’.” Read more…

The Cumberland & Westmorland Herald are also talking about it!

Pupils at a Lynn school had a lesson in PE from a former Paralympic swimming champion.

Children at the Howard Infant School are pictured above taking part in the session which was led by Clare Cunningham, who won a gold and four silver medals at the Barcelona games in 1992. She later took up para-triathlon, winning European and world championship titles in 2009 and world silver medals in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

The pupils at Gaywood took part in a sponsored fitness circuit to raise money for PE equipment for their school. They also had a very special assembly led by Clare Cunningham about life as an athlete, where the children were able to ask any questions they had.

The boys of Priory Prep School gathered with their fathers for the annual Lads and Dads dinner at Cuddington Golf Club.

Each year, the event consists of fantastic food, a raffle and an exceptionally good speaker. This year the lads and their dads were fortunate enough to be joined by Sports for School’s Rion Pierre. Rion has had a truly fascinating life, full of ups and downs. He showed exceptional sporting promise from a young age and signed to Chelsea FC’s youth team. However, at the tender age of 14, Rion was stabbed in London and, after initially struggling to regain fitness, was released from Chelsea.

Rion’s undying determination then shone through and, through his persistent efforts, it was noticed that he was a very gifted sprinter. Within a couple of months of joining an athletics club, he had become the Under-17 100m record holder for Middlesex and also became an English School’s Gold Medallist. His success didn’t stop there…Read more

“Rion’s main message to the Priory Prep boys was about taking the time to enjoy things and he reminded them that challenges, and overcoming them, is what makes us who we are.”

‘Sports-mad’ children at Seaburn School got very excited about their visit from Olympic long jumper Chris Tomlinson. Chris led a fun-filled fitness circuit for the whole school to get involved in. He also inspired the children in an assembly about his journey as an athlete, telling them to always work hard at everything they do.

Chris said, “It’s all about having a real go and pushing through, whether its sport or maths, science or anything else. I have always enjoyed trying to do better. I believe that the more you enjoy something, the greater your chance of succeeding.”

The event has also raised money for new PE equipment for the school so they can stay ‘sports-mad’ all year round!

Year 4 pupil Charlie Swalwell said, “I thought it was amazing being able to do the exercises with Chris. As a result of this, I want to get fit like Chris. He was huge.”

Classmate Adam Rooney, added, “We darted from activity to activity. They were so much fun. After we did the exercises, my heart was pounding.” Read more…

The Yorkshire-born athlete, who competed for Great Britain in the 200m breaststroke event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, spent an afternoon with pupils at ‘outstanding’ prep school Belmont Grosvenor near Harrogate.

The 29-year-old joined in as youngsters from reception to Year 6 at the co-educational school took part in a fitness circuit to raise money for charity.

James was visiting the school to help them raise money for their chosen charity (Children’s Heart Surgery Fund in Leeds), while encouraging pupils to get in to sport and lead a healthy life.

Pam Dight, Deputy Headteacher at Belmont Grosvenor School said: “James’ success through hard work, determination and love of sport and he delivered a very important message to all our pupils which was to believe in themselves, persevere and view disappointment as a challenge.”

GB International gymnast Danny Lawrence has made over 40 British International appearances and competed at 3 European and 3 World Championships. Danny is a 2010 Commonwealth Games Silver medallist and team England Captain. Danny has also visited Kelsale CEVC Primary School!

The whole school had an amazing time being led through a fun fitness circuit with Danny. They were then inspired by Danny’s assembly, where they had the chance to ask him any questions they had. Danny’s assembly included some extraordinary demonstrations that the children were told to never try at home! He was somersaulting and flipping all over the place, inspiring the children of Kelsale to believe that anything is possible when you work hard at it. Read more…

GB Olympic hurdler Meghan Beesley motivated Perry Beeches Infant School to love sport and make it part of their healthy lifestyle. After an intensive but thrilling exercise session, Meghan shared her experience of being an athlete and all her ups & downs along the way. All the children were shown what hard work can achieve and were inspired to try their best at everything they do.

The event also raised money for new PE equipment for the school.

One of the pupils at Perry Beeches said, “I just loved the day when Megan beesly came it was great! The best exercise was the star jumps because they were the easiest to do.I just loved the coach because she was loving and kind and the best coach I’d ever had. When I grow up I would like to be like Megan Beesley because she was so good at running and hurdling – all I want to say is a big well done to…MEGAN BEESLY!!!!!” Read more…

Two-time Paralympic medallist Ben Rushgrove put forward the challenge of an intensely fun fitness circuit to Holy Family Catholic Primary school…and they jumped at the opportunity!

Ben Rushgrove, who has cerebral palsy, runs in the T36 classification and secured 100m silver at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, before grabbing 200m bronze in London four years later. In his morning session with the 300-plus pupils, Ben led fitness circuits, consisting of press-ups, leg drives and star jumps, before answering questions in an inspiring assembly.

“The children loved it,” said Catherine Bruce, the school’s head of sport. They were really enthusiastic about it and showed some real interest in his assembly with questions about how he had become a Paralympian. “They felt very privileged and very special to have the chance to hold the medals.”

Ben said he was using his school visits to connect with the youngsters and break down any perceived barriers to elite sport. Check out what he said:

“Each school has its own unique standpoint on things. It’s part of my job to figure out how to pick the activities suitable to that hall and that set of kids. The benefits can be lots of things. For some it’s just getting a little bit of exercise in the morning to start their day. Some of them will sit in assembly and think this is cool, I want to do this more. Some kids come up at the end and say they are inspired by this. I’m trying to make it more like something that anybody can get involved in and anybody can do. I’m not trying to inspire all the kids to become sprinters or athletes because I know that’s not possible. Of all the children I see across the country, only one or two might have the talent to run internationally. I want to inspire them to be the best they can be.” Read more…

Paralympic star Katrina Hart paid a visit to Shaw Ridge Primary School to inspire the next generation of athletes. The sprinter, who won a bronze medal at the 2012 London games, went to the school to lead a series of workshops with each year group.

Shaun Carter, the school’s PE co-ordinator, said: “It was really good and the kids were brilliant. The reason we wanted to do this was to inspire the children to reach their goals and achieve many great things.”

The event has raised money for Shaw Ridge Primary School to buy new sports equipment. Shaun said: “This is a huge thing for us going forward and will provide a welcome boost.”

James spent the morning with each class in the school, leading them in a variety of fitness exercises and talking about how he began a career in sport.

James inspired all the children in a full school assembly where he shared his diving experiences…competing alongside Tom Daley, winning a Silver Medal in the Commonwealth Games and his future hopes of competing for Great Britain in the Rio Olympics in 2016. James even treated the school to a few acrobatic skills!

The event has helped raise money to buy Fishergate some new PE equipment to keep active all year round! Read more…