Children at St Pauls C of E Primary School had an inspiring morning when Olympian Daniel Purvis dropped into their school to share some of his wisdom.

Celebrating their Sports, Health, and Fitness week, the Stalybridge school have worked to teach the benefits of an active lifestyle through the mediums of various activities.

Introducing the children to a range of sports including archery, curling and frisbee, they were given a real opportunity to explore new and exciting challenges.

To end their week in style, the children were given the opportunity to meet Olympic Champion, Daniel Purvis.

The Scottish former international elite artistic gymnast arrived at the school with a plethora of key messages, encouraging the children to always try their best and work hard to accomplish their dreams.

The day began with an assembly, during which Dan told his story of rising to the top of the gymnastic scene. He wowed the children by walking on his hands across the hall, before playing a clip of his Olympic routine.

Smiles beamed across the hall, with the young children mesmerised at the action. Tiny voices in the crowd even said, “wow how does he do that.”

An enlightening speech, Dan told his story of championing against adversity to become a champion. He then split the children into groups to carry out an interactive fitness class.

Working with each class separately, Dan guided the youngsters through various activities, challenging their physical ability and teaching them ways to use different apparatus.

The children had great fun completing each activity, filling the hall with laughter.

As well as treating them to a fun-filled day, Dan also shared an important life lesson with the students, the importance of perseverance.

This just happened to be the Christian value focus that they are currently working on, and so the children were able to spot how they could apply perseverance to their task.

Dan’s visit came as part of a Sports for Champions inspirational workshop. Sports for Champions aim to educate, enable, and empower youth, in. order to inspire the champions of tomorrow.

This project, in partnership with St Paul’s School, includes running a fundraiser to help support the mental and physical health of pupils after the various lockdowns. The amazing pupils of St Pauls managed to raise a total of £1,574.

St Paul’s aspire for pupils to be happy, considerate, and caring to all. Their values, twinned with the inspiring visit from Dan, was a fantastic opportunity for the children to learn all about overcoming struggles.

The school plan to invest in new equipment and fund opportunities in afterschool clubs with the money raised.

Teaching children to follow their dreams, bestowing a love of activity and most of all treating them to a fun-filled day, this event was a huge success and one that will be remembered for a long time.

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