Witham disabled pupils wowed after meeting Paralympian

Southview School, in Witham, supports pupils with physical and neurological impairments and has 73 pupils ranging from three to 19 years old.

The school has teamed up with Sports for Schools, an organisation which aims to get children active at school.

The organisation has joined forces with numerous sports starts and pupils at the school were wowed when they got to meet a former Paralympian with Sports for Schools.

Sean Rose is a former Paralympic skier and represented Team GB at the 2006 and 2010 winter games.

He was left wheelchair-bound following a skiing accident in 2000 but has since gone on to become a world champion skier.

Sean also works as a presenter for TV coverage of the Paralympic games

He met pupils at the school and organised activities throughout the day.

Sean said: “Ten years ago, Sports for Schools approached me and talked about their project.

“The first few years I have been involved a little bit, but recently I have started being involved more.

“I love being part of something that puts smiles on children's faces.

"It’s great to give back.

“Since my accident I have a different understanding of what is important.

“I really understand and appreciate the difficulties that the children and young people go through."

Sean was joined by former Ipswich Town defender Ian Miller at the school.

The event was organised by teacher Anca Hastings.

She said: “We have been in contact with Sports for Schools as we were looking at arranging for someone to come and talk to our learners about sports and to show them that your disability doesn't matter when you set a goal for yourself.

“They talked to me about their programme and together we decided on a set of exercises that the learners took part in for two weeks, every day for 10 minutes.

“The program finished with Sean Rose and Ian Miller coming into school and taking part in the exercise with our learners.”