EMAT torch relay brings Olympic star to Prince William School

Throughout this week, the EMAT torch has travelled between all seven schools in East Midlands Academy Trust where every child has taken part in a walk or run as part of the build up to the EMAT Olympic Day later this month.

Students at Prince William School were joined for their torch relay by Olympic rower Caragh McMurtry, who did a Q&A session with the school’s Year 12 sports leaders followed by a Year 7 assembly about resilience.

Caragh was also able to meet with her mentee, student Freya Sweeney, who has been mentored by Caragh for the past six months thanks to a fantastic opportunity by The Mintridge Foundation, which pairs Team GB athletes with young people for fortnightly mentoring sessions, working with them on building resilience and confidence, working hard and overcoming setbacks.

The trust’s other schools in Northampton and Milton Keynes saw visits from Paralympic wheelchair basketball player Sophie Carrigill, triple Paralympic gold medal winner and twelve-time World Champion canoeist Emma Wiggs MBE and Heather Fell, an Olympic Silver Medallist in Modern Pentathlon.

Chief executive Joshua Coleman said: “Our EMAT Torch Relay is a truly inclusive event as it involves every one of our pupils across the trust and features some fantastic Olympians and Paralympians who are sharing their own stories of resilience and hard work with our learners.

“We are now in our fifth year of this incredible event and we are fortunate to have a unique partnership with GB Olympians to bring sporting heroes into our schools to inspire our pupils – and perhaps the next generation of Olympians!”

Next week the trust will host its annual Ability Games, a special event for our pupils with additional physical or communication needs, supported by Paralympic archer Tania Nadaraja.

This will be followed by the EMAT Olympic Day on June 25, which will bring together around 540 pupils from 11 schools in total for an athletics competition, with a special appearance from Olympic sprinter James Dasaolu, who competed at London 2012, and runner Anita Neil, the first female black athlete to represent Great Britain.