Before the Easter holidays, we were so lucky to receive visits to SSq from Olympic Champion Ellie Simmonds and up-and-coming jockey and Khadijah Mellah.

Both of these inspirational people have classes named after them this year: Nursery Simmonds Class and Year 3 Mellah Class.

Our visitors spent time with their respective classes before speaking in assemblies about their journeys, the challenges they faced and how they deal with life in the spotlight.

Khadijah Mellah spoke of her recent motorbike accident – which put her out of horse riding for some time – and her road to recovery (getting back on her horse!). It was great to hear her talk about how she juggles her strict training regime during Ramadan as well as overcoming the prejudices she faces being the first female jockey to wear a hijab.

Ellie Simmonds spoke of how being ‘different’ didn’t stop her from fulfilling her dreams and ambitions. She revealed how hard she had to work – in and out of the pool – to achieve her current success. The children were in awe of her 5 (yes 5!) Olympic gold medals and offered some brilliant questions to both esteemed guests.

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