I was given a full 45 minutes at assembly to give a talk about my life, how I overcame the various obstacles I have faced, and then an opportunity to introduce Power2Inspire and why we deliver Games2Inspire in schools. There were some grand questions too:

How do I use my iPhone?

What was the greatest challenge I have faced?

My favourite sport?

The 132 Year 9s were split into four groups with other external experts holding workshops while Patrick (my wonderful volunteer) and I led a session of games. We chose three: new age kurling, sitting netball and goalball.  What I loved was that the students all found at least one to engage them.

I was delighted to discover at the end of my assembly that four pupils from the adjacent Woodfields Special Needs School were in the audience and had been inspired.  The wonderful organiser of the day, Rachael Harding, invited them there and then to return to join in the games. They duly did, returning for the second session of the day and getting stuck into the games.

I do hope to be able to connect with the rest of Woodfields. Apparently, though there had only been four students willing to attend assembly, there were plenty more willing to join the games as word had reached them what fun it was to be part of a Power2Inspire event.

In fact, I later heard that the four pupils that came to the event have written an incredible letter to their headmaster asking if John could come and speak to their school.

You can read it here:

In the afternoon we had little difficulty in persuading Ms Harding and Ms Kate Yarbo, the Sheringham SEN governor who had popped in to see the fun, to have a go at sitting netball.  Their competitive instincts were soon revealed, but it was clear they espouse our Number 1 Rule – to have FUN!

I was also accompanied by former Power2Inspire trustee, Professor Francis Davis.  He is currently attending Power2Inspire events to evaluate and measure their impact, observe the difference they make and opine on their contribution to the public benefit.  We await his report in a couple of months with trepidation and excitement.

The highlight of the day for me was the enthusiasm shown by the Y9s on Ben’s team as they passed him the sitting netball – carefully constructed throws so he could catch the ball in his lap – for him to score!  True inclusion.

Thank you, Ms Harding and Sheringham.  I would love to return.  If there are other schools out there who wish to educate their students with a SEN-inclusion day and have us as a major part, we would love to hear from you.