THROUGH the power of top level sport pupils of an Isle of Wight primary school were inspired by the visit of British world champion gymnast Jaydon Paddock.
Jaydon paid a visit to St Francis Catholic and CE Primary Academy in Ventnor to help raise funds to meet the spiralling cost of his intense training progamme, as well as boost school funds for its own projects.
Organised in partnership with Sport for Champions UK, the event was also run as a means of supporting the mental and physical health of the pupils after the national lockdowns during the pandemic.
In the school's asssembly, Jaydon — part of a British team of four to win gold at the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo — told youngsters about his achievements as a medal-winning athlete, about his training schedule and the importance of eating the right foods.
The gymnast also explained how he had tried a variety of sports when he was younger — strongly encouraging them to do the same.
He also spoke of the importance of having resilience and desire to become better at his sport, using accounts of some of the injuries as examples of how he had to stay mentally strong to get through his recovery and in getting back to his high levels of performance.
Jaydon even showed videos of when some of his moves had gone wrong and that he used them to build on his mistakes.
"As a school, we were amazed to see some videos of some of his best medal-winning performances. He also told us about how he tackles nerves prior to competitions," said teacher, Adam Clark.
"Jaydon then put each class through a fun and energetic fitness circuit, before finally casually demonstrating a backwards somersault in the air."
Sports For Champions events are held in support of schools, which keep 60 per cent of the funds raised to spend on resources that will enrich young peoples’ education and experience, while professional athletes in need of support, such as Jaydon, are the only other beneficiaries from the remaining 40 per cent.
If you are a local business or a friend of St Francis and would like to contribute to help the school reach its targets and help Jaydon achieve his goals as a top athlete, donations can be made via the following link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/stfrancis?tk=MTY0Mzg5NjQzMDE4YmExYWJmOWJlZGU0ZGRhNTRhMGEzMWYxZDlmMmRkNmIxM2VjZWQ%3D
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