Sleaford Rotary Clubs held their 2024 Children of Courage Awards at William Alvey School last week.
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00:00 I'm going to tell you about Ellie, our young Cub Scout. She is part of our third student
00:11 scout group. She joined us just over a year ago. She wasn't too sure of her type of Cub
00:17 so she hasn't been in any scouts like many of the others. However, she knew some of the
00:21 Cubs from school and soon set to know them very well. She enjoys all of our activities
00:26 and is very happy to try new things. Most activities, as always, are completed with
00:32 a smile and a growing belief in her abilities and courage, determination, everything you
00:38 can say about it. Sadly, Ellie had to draw on her belief in herself and her abilities
00:43 over the last six months after her mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. Up until Christmas,
00:49 the leaders of myself and the group had no idea what was happening at home to Ellie's
00:53 mum. She kept it totally away from us. Ellie came home to Cubs, she was chatting, she smiled,
01:00 always happy, no tears, no cross words, no anxiety. She was just the usual Ellie, caring,
01:07 polite and a well-liked member of our group. I guess it's appropriate to say that Ellie
01:14 is a superhero. She is always showing us what she can do and how she can cope. At school,
01:21 at Cubs, or in public, there's this lovely young Ellie, smiling and cheerful. At home,
01:26 there is the superhero mode that kicks in. Helping with washing, making meals for the
01:32 family and ensuring things continued as they should to help her mum as much as she could.
01:37 Cooking dinner, no problem, as she just told me she's very good at doing sausages.
01:42 (laughter)
01:43 Cleaning rooms, ensuring her mum had as easy a time as possible after her treatment.
01:48 All was accomplished with total efficiency. The thing that really has shocked Cub is Ellie's
01:54 never give up attitude, not only for herself but also to her mum. From writing notes and
02:00 drawing pictures and cards at school, but leaving messages around the home for mum to
02:04 find them while she was at school, telling her exactly, "Mum, you can do this, you will
02:09 be fine." Ellie never let the family feel sorry for themselves once. Not all superheroes
02:15 wear capes or funny outfits, or a special arm, but some like Ellie just wear their heart
02:21 on this sleeve. And in the words of our Chief Scout, Bear Grylls, "They never give up."
02:27 Ellie, you are amazing. You're polite, you're kind, you're always happy. You are a very
02:32 well-liked member of our group. We are very proud of everything you have done, and we
02:36 hope that your caring, compassion and enthusiasm continues for a long time to come.
02:42 Thank you. [Applause]
02:54 [Music]
03:02 ...private school, and in June 2020, during the second lockdown, his health became unwell.
03:07 Sadly, he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia, and he began a really long
03:12 and intensive course of treatment. It really did take a toll on that. But despite that,
03:19 he never ever, even once, lost his incredible positive attitude that he always had. Always
03:27 enthusiastic and desperate to come to school. If Zack had couldn't come to school on every
03:32 single day, he would have. He has been incredible. Zack recovered and he proudly rang the end
03:39 of treatment bell, and we were absolutely delighted for him. But typical of Zack, that
03:44 wasn't enough. He didn't just want to ring it at the hospital, he wanted to involve his
03:47 friends. So we did a second bell ring at school so that everybody could be involved.
03:52 Unfortunately, this beginning of last year, Zack suffered a serious relapse, which led
03:57 to yet more treatment, including a bone marrow transplant. As always, Zack remained positive,
04:03 and his desire to get back to school is just incredible. We were delighted to welcome him
04:08 back to this effort, just in time to join in with this celebration. Mum dropped off
04:15 a wheelchair for school because we had a Santa running. She said, "I don't know if Zack's
04:19 going to be okay for this. I'm just going to drop off this wheelchair, just in case."
04:25 So I spoke to Zack and said, "Where abouts on the route do you think you'd like to go?"
04:28 "I don't need a wheelchair, I think we'll find him alright." And off he was headed,
04:32 and the door, it was true Zack Stone. Zack is genuinely, and I mean this completely,
04:39 one of the bravest children I have ever met. He's sweet, he's kind, he's hardworking,
04:44 he's always positive, and he never ever has pains. He's so matter-of-fact. When he was
04:51 undergoing some treatment earlier, he had a real problem with feeling pins and needles
04:55 and pains in his hands and his feet. And I remember one time at the little playground,
04:59 he came up to me and he said, "I think I need some more feet." And I said, "Is it really
05:05 bad?" He said, "Yeah, I can't answer that." So I rang, and somebody came and gave him
05:09 more feet. And I said, "Right, you're going to go home now?" "No, no, no, you can give
05:12 it about 20 minutes, I'll be alright." And today's the first day of school. I've never
05:16 known anybody as keen to be in school as I was as a kid. So it gives me enormous pleasure
05:23 and pride to be able to nominate Zack for this award.
05:26 [Applause]
05:28 "Zack's already forward to receive his award. Well done, Zack."
05:32 [Applause]
05:38 And I feel incredibly privileged this evening to have been invited to come to speak about
05:45 Daisy and the way in which she's overcome adversity over the last few years. So there
05:54 are many young people in society at the moment that are really worthy of these awards and
06:00 who have faced considerable challenges in their lives. So on the Resington campus, we're
06:06 no different. We have children facing homelessness, really poor parents, all sorts of things that
06:13 they face in terms of challenges. And it's testament to Daisy Bow's absolute determination,
06:20 strength and courage in overcoming adversity that when we reached out to our pastoral team
06:28 to ask for a nomination in receipt of this award for this year, they were absolutely
06:34 unanimous in terms of Daisy Bow being the person who was without doubt most worthy amongst
06:42 the students, the 500 plus students on our campus. Now I haven't included an enormous
06:48 amount of detail in the booklet about the challenges that Daisy Bow has faced to protect
06:55 that confidentiality for Daisy Bow, but suffice to say that she's faced some incredible challenges
07:02 in terms of mental health and illness of a sibling and has been an absolute rock to her
07:10 family and everybody around her in terms of the way that she has managed that. And I think
07:16 as a part of that has absolutely demonstrated one of life's biggest lessons in terms of
07:22 putting other people's needs before her own always with an absolute smile upon her face
07:29 always. And I've only been a part of Daisy Bow's journey at Ruskington over the last
07:34 year, but to see her grow in confidence despite the challenges that she's faced has been
07:41 incredible. Whether it is having the bravery to stand up and sing at our carol service
07:49 or at a concert or whether actually it is about seeing her very happily sweeping all
07:55 of the brick dust off the construction yard with a massive smile on her face. Given the
08:01 adversity that she has faced, she is an absolute inspiration to us all. The fact that she continues
08:08 on every day with such enormous positivity. So out of adversity comes significant inner
08:16 strength and Daisy Bow, you demonstrate that every day. So well done.
08:21 [applause]
08:23 [music]
08:30 It's not your struggles, it's the inspiration that you give to other people and that comes
08:34 up so clearly through your nomination. So it does talk in passing about the things that
08:42 you do to overcome some of your physical constraints, but the thing that absolutely
08:46 shines out for me is the inspiration that you give to other people. And I've heard
08:51 exactly the same about people who've been nominated so far. The selflessness of people
08:56 like you, Damian, that you in the description of the booklet, it talks about the brightness
09:02 that you bring to school every single day. When I see you, you won't know, but every
09:07 time I see you, you put a smile on my face because you just smile when we talk and you
09:11 don't care whatever anything else might be going on. You brighten my day. So you don't
09:16 just brighten my day in the booklet. I've been very lucky to be headteacher of William
09:21 Abbey only since September, but this is a nomination for you, Damian, from reception.
09:26 This has been years and years and years. You are doing it to put things on, you're doing
09:31 it because you're a good, good person. And it talks in a great deal of detail, and these
09:36 are from your teachers. This is not from me. I absolutely agree with everything, but this
09:40 is from all the teachers, not one person, all the teachers in school, that they talk
09:45 about you going on and persevering. There's so many things I like in here. The determination
09:51 and resilience to overcome issues. There's people with tiny issues in comparison to you
09:57 that, given Damian, you don't. The nomination that I really like is you know that you achieve
10:03 your full potential through hard work, and you do, that's irrespective of any disability.
10:09 But the other thing is really shown through in your personality, that you celebrate the
10:14 success of others, and don't try to compete against it. You're genuinely pleased when
10:19 other people are successful. You don't think, "Ooh, I wish I hadn't been." You're that inspiration
10:24 to people. And the finishing line in your booklet, in this booklet, really sums you
10:28 up. So it should say, "Our final thought," rather than "My final thought," but "Our
10:32 final thought is there will be a much better place if everyone had a little bit more of
10:38 a day in the month's life." And that's absolutely true, so I wish you the very best.
10:42 [applause]
10:44 [music]
10:46 I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Lydia. I've got this booklet, and I'm
11:05 going to close it, and I'm going to leave it there, and I'm just going to speak from
11:07 the heart, because, ooh, I get a bit emotional now. Lydia is so kind. She's so thoughtful.
11:16 I'm one of those people where I'm very close to my year group. I work really hard with
11:22 them. We work really hard together, don't we, Lydia? And, you know, at school it can
11:27 be really hard, because as a teacher, you take on people's emotions all the time. And
11:33 it doesn't matter what is going on in school. Every time I see Lydia's face, I smile.
11:40 [pause]
11:42 Cheers, kids.
11:44 [laughter]
11:46 Lydia's incredibly resilient. Everything she does is wonderful. She walks into a room,
11:51 the room lights up. I have the pleasure of teaching Lydia Spanish. I'm very passionate
11:56 about it. Well, I thought I was passionate about Spanish, but I might as well move to
11:59 Spain or have my job. I'm pretty sure it's Spain. She's amazing. So on a personal level,
12:06 I'm super proud of her, because she's so kind, so caring, so passionate. But also,
12:13 as I say, it doesn't matter what mood you're in, what mood anyone's in, anything could
12:18 happen, and she just brightens up the room. But she's the first person in assembly. When
12:23 I ask a question, there's the dreaded silence. Some of you will know the dreaded silence.
12:28 You sit there and you go, "Oh, sweet Jesus, someone put me out of misery, and I just thought
12:32 Lydia's hand on the button." And I'm like, "Oh, thank God. I call her the saviour."
12:37 You don't know that, but I call you the saviour. And when we were asked, myself and Mrs Williams,
12:42 the head of year nine, "Who do we nominate?" Obviously, there were loads of worthy students,
12:48 but straightaway, we said in unison, we often used to talk in unison at this point, "Lydia
12:54 for job." It was automatic. It really was. It doesn't matter what is going on in your
13:00 life, Lydia. It doesn't matter. You could have had a tough time at home. You could be
13:04 having a tough time with other students. There is always a smile. There is always passion
13:11 and so much resilience. I'm so proud of you. You absolutely deserve this. Thank you.
13:18 [Applause]
13:24 [Music]
13:31 [Silence]
13:38 Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I know I'm going to get emotional, so I do apologise
13:44 for that right now. This young lady that's been nominated from our school has witnessed
13:54 her and her family have witnessed things that I've only ever seen on TV. They came from
14:03 Afghanistan, in Kabul, where they witnessed many terrorist attacks. This young lady saw
14:16 things that I would never want a child of her age to ever see on TV or witness in real
14:23 life. But she came with her family to our country. She first settled in Milton Keynes,
14:33 but then came to Sleaford, which she tells me is the best move she's ever made. I've
14:39 only been Deputy Head at our ladies for just over a year now, but I always remember my
14:47 first day in school and Akra came up to me and said, "Good morning, miss. Are you new?"
14:58 And I said, "Yes, I am." And from that moment, she would speak to me every morning.
15:05 "Good morning, Mrs. Chawna. How are you?" "Good afternoon, Mrs. Chawna. How are you?"
15:11 Now, this young lady came to our school knowing no English whatsoever. She could hardly speak
15:18 English when she first came, which was two years ago, and she couldn't read or write
15:25 in English. They have never witnessed a child fast track through the phonics system in such
15:32 a short space of time. She was an inspiration to all the children around her. She never
15:41 stopped working hard. She never gave up, even when it was difficult. And to be quite honest
15:48 with you, I don't even think she found it difficult. I think it came quite naturally
15:53 to her. In that short space of time, the delightful Akra has reached more than her potential.
16:04 She's in year five now, and from a child with such a low starting point, she's working
16:11 within that year five expectation. I am so proud to be part of her educational journey,
16:19 as all the members of our school are. She's a great friend. She's a beautiful child and
16:26 a lovely role model for all the other children in school, and especially to her siblings.
16:32 And she has this attitude of, "If I can do it, then you can do it." And I've seen that
16:39 with her sister Zeyna. She's got an infectious smile. It brightens up the day. She never,
16:50 ever stops working hard, and she never, ever stops thinking about other people. She helps
16:57 wherever possible, and she is that inspirational role model. But most of all, this young lady
17:05 who could speak no English and do very little maths two years ago has put so much effort
17:12 in that she's intending to take her 11 plus, and you know what? She will pass. And she
17:19 will achieve and go to the all-girls school. I feel very proud, very honoured, and very
17:26 privileged, Akra, that your parents chose our ladies for you to come to. Congratulations.
17:35 [applause]
17:39 [music]
17:51 Jack is somebody who I've had the pleasure of working with for nearly four years now.
17:57 I've been with him since he's joined in Year 7, and he's getting his way through Year 10
18:01 now. I wrote in the booklet that Jack is the perfect example of that metaphor about
18:08 the swan, you know, calm and gliding on the surface, but legs paddling away in the water.
18:13 I think that's really an apt description of him. He really does try very, very hard after
18:18 all the adversity he's gone through this time. Just the other day, he came back for the first
18:24 time at sea, and I had to spend some time in the hospital. He vaguely mentioned something
18:28 about needing the maximum amount of morphine, didn't complain at all, stepped into the mirror
18:32 and complained about his hair instead. He really has been trying hard this year. He's
18:37 just come out of school recently, and yet he's been getting his exam results back, and
18:42 well, kind of seems to be doing very well. He's been managing his friends, he seems to
18:46 be quite popular with the students here. He's really going above and beyond, more than I'd
18:52 have expected of the Osteogy. It's really, after hearing all these stories, it's really
18:58 inspiring to be able to live with people receiving awards today, and I definitely think Jack
19:02 deserves to be among them. It's been a real pleasure working with you. Thanks.
19:08 [Applause]
19:14 [Music]
19:24 Hello, good evening everybody. I stand here as Tam's Head of Year at this moment in time,
19:29 but I was also Shannon's Head of Year three years ago when she was first diagnosed with
19:35 CCDG. It's three words I can't pronounce. Shannon was in Year 10, Year 11, she was admitted
19:44 to hospital, and a condition that she thought she had was realised that it actually wasn't.
19:51 But as part of that journey, Tamzin was also tested, and she proved to be a perfect match
19:58 in terms of a bone marrow donor, which was fortunate because it means that Shannon will
20:03 actually be able to progress and actually achieve a full life, rather than have the
20:08 recurring illnesses that she'd been having through her early years at Stephen's Steve
20:13 High School. Tamzin and I also have the pleasure of teaching history to you. She's in Year
20:19 11 now, and has been absolutely amazing this year. Before Christmas, Shannon was undergoing
20:28 a procedure to have a bone marrow transplant, and Tamzin was that donor. Tamzin, as part
20:34 of that procedure, had to isolate in the same way that her sister was, but Tamzin all the
20:42 way through, she was resistant, she was resilient, and participated in all lessons. She's a
20:48 great county cricketer. She plays for the Lincoln County Cricket Team, and she's on
20:53 the Under 16 squad. And even though she was desperate to be playing cricket, she isolated
21:01 for her sister. In Tamzin's eyes, she puts across an idea. She says, "Why wouldn't I
21:13 do this for my sister? It's the one gift that she's more than willing to give." And I think
21:18 that really sums up Tamzin. Tamzin is selfless, she's determined, and has given Shannon a
21:26 gift that no one else could give her. And she thoroughly deserves this reward.
21:38 I'll actually challenge form two. I've got a promotion there, so that'll be what I want to do.
21:44 That's fine. So sixth form can be incredibly challenging, just with the A-levels, the workload,
21:53 the social pressures, et cetera. And Shannon's had to face this disease, this disorder, head
22:03 on, and have a bone marrow transplant. It's meant a great deal of time away from school,
22:08 yet she's persevered, and she has been, when she's been well enough, attending school with
22:14 the little robot. It gets wheeled into the chemistry lab, and she takes part in the lessons
22:20 as much as she possibly can. It's this perseverance and determination which really does display
22:28 all her courageous assets, really. It's really quite incredible. She's also part of a rock band
22:36 as well, which she absolutely loves. And so she's really active in her social life with
22:42 lots and lots of friends, too. I've been very impressed. She's a biology student, although
22:46 she learns biology at Carr's Grammar School rather than the high school, so I don't have
22:51 the pleasure of teaching her, just a form tutor. But I've been really, really impressed
22:55 with her genuine interest in the medical complexities of her condition. She's often explained them
23:03 to me, and I think that shows a lot of courage. She hasn't shied away from getting into the
23:09 nitty-gritty of what actually is going on. I think even it has given her the strength
23:14 to persevere and strive forward and go on and do biology, hopefully at university. I
23:19 believe she has received some offers recently for Sheffield University, and is awaiting
23:25 some others, so she absolutely deserves those. She's an incredible young lady. I'm very proud
23:31 to be her form tutor, and she's incredibly courageous, too. Thank you.
23:35 [Applause]
23:38 [Silence]