Middlesbrough defender Dael Fry visited Newham Bridge Primary School yesterday afternoon to promote our Roary’s Class Acts attendance programme.
The England U20 World Cup winner was just one of our guests at the Middlesbrough school, as Roary the Lion and the Cleveland Centre Croc joined him on stage – much to the children’s delight!
Fry put some of the children’s footballing knowledge to the test with a little Boro quiz, before putting their own questions to him, both about his footballing career and off-the-field hobbies.
“It’s massively important to go to school every day, even if you want to be a footballer you have to do your school work,” Dael told the pupils.
“I failed my English in school so I came in on my days off to do it and make sure I passed it. Being on time is very important too, something that will help you in many other aspects of life in the future.”
The Cleveland Centre, Middlesbrough’s largest central shopping station, support the programme alongside Tees Valley Community Foundation, Premier League, PFA and Emmerson Marketing, kindly donated book vouchers to the school, which were presented by Ian Jolly.
“We have done a number of assemblies across the Middlesbrough, Stockton and Redcar areas, and it’s fantastic to see the amount of schools that have bought into the Roary’s Class Acts programme.
“The children seemed to look inspired by Dael’s visit, as they asked some really good questions about both football and his personal life,” said Foundation Project Worker Gary Walton.
“The mascots also went down really well, so all in all it was a excellent visit to Newham Bridge Primary School.”
Newham Bridge Deputy Head, Helen Ede, added: “At Newham Bridge we want the children to have the best possible start in life, and to do that they need to have the best education, which means being at school, on time, every day.
“When the opportunity came along to work with MFC Foundation’s attendance programme we were delighted because it really fit a need for us at the school.
“The children are getting to hear messages from people that they look up to and respect, and then there’s the rewards and incentives that are an added benefit as well.
“It really helps children to see that being at school is really important, and to be here on time so that they can learn.”