Secret of Success: Helen Skelton Visits NLS (Jan 2015)
On Thursday 21st January North Lakes School were delighted to welcome local celebrity Helen Skelton into school. Helen joined the children in Assembly to share the secrets of her success, and to help them in their learning.
Talking about her career and her amazing series of challenges for Blue Peter, Sport Relief, and Comic Relief, she gave the whole school inspirational advice on how to achieve their goals and seek happiness.
The children posted a series of thoughtful questions on the school blog and many were able to ask these directly to Helen, who grew up in Kirkby Thore, and attended Appleby Grammar School. There was an excited response from all of the children and Helen brought a real buzz to the school as she shared some lessons learned from her adventures. Having cycled to the South Pole, paddled a kayak down the length of the Amazon, traversed a 150m high wire above Battersea Power Station, and completed a 78 mile Namibian desert ultra-marathon in less than 24 hours, there was no shortage of stories for Helen to tell!
Mike Pincombe said “Helen is an outstanding role model for young people, and especially for children growing up in the Eden Valley. Through her drive, energy, enthusiasm and positive attitude she has achieved great success and become a national celebrity for all of the right reasons.”
Helen’s visit to North Lakes School is one of a series which enables the children to learn from the success of famous people, who have included mountaineer Simon Yates, footballer Peter Murphy, and local MP and Environment Minister Rory Stewart. The children have also engaged via Twitter with the stars of Mary Poppins.
Final words must go to Helen: “There is a difference between difficult and impossible. Believe in yourself and don’t let others tell you that you cannot do something if you believe you can. Anything can happen if you let it. Never give up - start from the beginning and take small steps, one at a time. And be happy – you either laugh or you cry!”
Mr Pincombe & Mrs Clark
