On Monday 19^th October, Market Drayton Junior School welcomed Paralympic gold medallist and three times world champion Danielle Brown MBE to talk to the children about her story. Her motivational talk entitled ‘Dream Big, Work Hard and Never Give Up’ inspired the children to follow their dreams and achieve success. Samantha Taylor, year 4 teacher said, ‘From the moment Danielle began her assembly the children were hooked and had so many questions to ask her. All of the children left the assembly feeling motivated and inspired and it was lovely to hear them all talking about their experience’.

 

Danielle’s assembly took the children on a journey from her time at school to becoming the first Paralympic athlete to compete in an able bodied competition and win gold. She spoke to the children about how her lifelong goal was to go to university and become a lawyer, however becoming disabled at a very young age changed the pathway she took. Danielle explained to the children that although plans might change for whatever reason, you can still strive to be the best and reach your goals. Danielle was the perfect role model to make this a reality and as a result the children went away with an ‘I can do it’ attitude, something that Danielle feels very passionate about.

 

Following the assembly, the sports committee spent some time with Danielle talking to her about her achievements, asking her questions about her career and telling her about some of our schools achievements in sport. The children took a lot of key messages from this discussion and will hopefully be able to apply these strategies to their own lives. Drayton, who is a year 4 sports committee member, said ‘The feeling when I met Danielle was amazing!’

 

Many thanks to Mrs Taylor for organising the visit which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

 

Market Drayton Junior School are also delighted to have been awarded the gold award for Sainsbury’s School Games.