Beckham Makes Surprise School Visit

Vaughan Primary School had a special guest at their morning assembly when David Beckham turned up to meet staff and pupils in his role as ambassador for Sainsbury’s to promote both the Paralympics and healthy active lifestyles amongst children. 

David’s visit to the school on Friday was organised by Sainsbury’s to celebrate Vaughan Primary winning the Million Kids Challenge – an initiative created by the supermarket to encourage children of all ages and abilities to try one of three Paralympic sports; goalball, visually impaired football and sitting volleyball.

The Million Kids Challenge saw Sainsbury’s supply all participating schools, clubs and organisations with free Paralympic sports equipment for kids to use.

Launched in April 2011, the Million Kids Challenge was taken up by nearly 8000 schools across the country with over 2.4m children having the opportunity to try Paralympic sport. 

Vaughan Primary was awarded the visit from sporting superstar David Beckham as a reward for the hard work undertaken by teachers and pupils to embed Paralympic sports into their mainstream curriculum. The school has even dedicated an entire half-term to the three Paralympic sports.

Vaughn Primary’s involvement in Paralympic sport wasn’t just limited to the Million Kids Challenge; the school also developed links with Aspire – the spinal injury charity – adopting it as the school charity. 

The school arranged visits to Aspires Stanmore HQ on a number of occasions where students took part in a range of activities including trying out another Paralympic sport, wheelchair basketball. The school has also purchased tickets for their junior school children to attend the Paralympic Games in September.

Justin King, Sainsbury’s CEO commented: ‘What an amazing day. It was a real pleasure to arrange for David to meet with the pupils and staff and see firsthand how they have embraced the Paralympic Games. When I first heard about all the effort and hard work that the school has undertaken to truly integrate Paralympic sport into their curriculum, and how they have involved pupils in the Million Kids Challenge, it was clear that here was a school that deserved a great reward. I hope that the time that they spent with David was both enjoyable and inspirational.’

‘I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the thousands of schools and millions of children who took part in the challenge, helping us move closer to our goal of making London 2012 the best Paralympic Games ever.’

David Beckham added: ‘It was a real privilege for me to meet the pupils and staff of Vaughan Primary. Their dedication to Sainsbury’s Million Kids Challenge and their wider involvement and support for the London 2012 Paralympic Games is inspirational. I got the chance to chat with the children and the teachers who have worked so hard to really integrate Paralympic Sport into their day-to-day lessons. The Million Kids Challenge has been an amazing initiative and I would like to thank all the schools that took part. Having over 2 million kids giving Paralympic sport a go is truly amazing.’