A double Olympic gold medal-winning sailor has been inspiring and motivating students at Brighstone Primary School.
Shirley Robertson OBE DL, who has had the Robertson Class named after her has been getting to know the students in Years 3 and 4.
Since last September, Shirley has been meeting them via zoom and sharing stories about the four Olympic games she has competed in.
She has shared the moments she won her Gold medals with the students, other sailing successes and her broadcasting career.
Between calls with the schools, Shirly has spent time in New Zealand commentating on America’s Cup, where another of the school’s class namesakes, Ben Ainslie, was competing.
Mrs Rebecca Lennon, the headteacher at the school, said:
“This year our classes have been named after inspirational sailors with links to the Isle of Wight and the children have been really excited to learn about the incredible achievements of our local sailing heroes.
“We are delighted that Shirley has taken the time out of her busy schedule to speak to the children in Roberson Class and share her experiences with them. She speaks with great passion and charisma for her sport and through the Zoom calls has explained to the children that setting your sights on a goal and working hard is the key to success.
“We are very grateful to Shirley for her support and for providing the children with inspiration and motivation in what has been a challenging year due to the pandemic.”
The children also enjoyed learning about Shirley’s role in the Tokyo Olympics, where she will be commentating on the sailing events for the BBC.
Shirley said:
“It’s such delight to chat to ‘my’ class at Brighstone primary, I love that they are so interested and inquisitive about sailing and the sea. It’s also great that each class is named after inspirational Islanders, we should celebrate our Island and our Islanders and this is a lovely way to engage both the young people of Brighstone with some of our famous Islanders. I’m still smiling thinking about some of the questions they asked now.”
As part of its focus on inspirational Isle of Wight sailors this year, Brighstone Primary School has linked up with Sir Ben Ainslie (Reception), Natasha Lambert (Year 1/Year 2), Shirley Robertson OBE (Year 3/Year4), Ellen MacArthur (Year 5) and Seb Clover (Year 6).
Next year, classes at the school are being named after endangered and at-risk animals. Children will be taking part in activities throughout the year to raise funds for charities involved in the protection of these animals as part of their development towards becoming globally-aware citizens.
For more information about the school, please visit www.brighstoneprimary.org.uk
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