Good Morning Brown Clee!

What a beautiful weekend it has been – I hope you have been able to enjoy the good weather!

This week we are going to be continuing to think about the skill of perseverance – as the ability to keep on going, even when things are difficult or tough, is such an important life skill!  We have already learnt about how J K Rowling had her first Harry Potter novel turned down by publishers 12 times, and that she wasn’t good enough. But she didn’t give up – nor stopped believing in herself, and she persevered – and thank goodness they did, or the Harry Potter series would not exist!

We all find things difficult at times – lots of things!  But the only way to ever get better at anything is to persevere and keep going – keep trying!  Here is a short video of someone who never gave up – he knew he wasn’t going to win the race – but that wasn’t important – the important things was finishing!  Have a watch and think about why do you think he didn’t give up?

The video is of the athlete Derek Redmond in the semi-final of the men’s 400m race at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.  Derek was a favourite to win the race but after 150m his ham string muscle tore.  He was in agony and had to stop and the medics tried to help him off the track – but he refused to stop – even when his own Dad ran out to say that he didn’t need to carry on, Derek’s response was “Yes I do!”.  Why do you think he was so determined to finish?

We have all had difficult times when we have wanted to give up – but how does it make you feel? Have you ever wondered how you would feel, or what would have happened if you hadn’t given up and instead, had persevered?

As you go through this week, if you find a maths problem tricky, or a PE lesson challenging – have a think about Derek Redmond – what would he have done?

At school, all we ask is that you try your best, and work hard to be the best person that you can be – so have a quiet moment and reflect on what you can do to achieve this.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for Derek Redmond and his example of perseverance.
Please help us to try hard to achieve our goals and dreams.
May we find something worth striving for and not give up easily.
Help us to see obstacles as opportunities.
Help us never to give up trying to do our best.
Amen.