Paralympian visits West Sussex School

David carter with Sophie Christiansen

Paralympic star Sophie Christiansen, MBE, who has achieved five Olympic medals, was guests of honour at a presentation evening at St Philip Howard Catholic High School in Barnham, West Sussex recently.

Sophie congratulated the students, who had achieved excellent GCSE and A Level results, many at A* or A grades. Prize winners included Samuel Theodoridi, for social awareness, David Simmonds, for endeavour, Lucy Brookes for public speaking, Catherine Hawkins for her contribution to the school community and James Turner for achievement in Mathematics. The Thorpe Justice prizes for students of law went to Joshua Weston, James Turner and Samuel Foster.

Sophie, who has never allowed cerebral palsy to interfere with her drive to succeed, gave a moving speech about her own road to success. Having started riding at six, she went on to compete in dressage competitions nationally and internationally including European and World Championships.

Not only has she achieved phenomenal success with her sport, she is also has a degree in Mathematics.

Sophie told the students about how she worked hard to fulfil her dreams, overcoming setbacks and learning how to deal with the stress of preparing for the Olympics. Her message was also about recognising the important contribution made by other people in allowing our dreams to be realised; she encouraged the students to remember the role played by their families and members of the school staff.

Headteacher, David Carter commented: “Sophie’s attitude, determination and desire to succeed is an example to us all. She has a no-nonsense, no excuses, upbeat mentality which is totally inspiring. Like we do at SPH, she sets her sights high and never gives up in aspiring to be the very best she can be. There were many gold-winning performances from our students in the exams over the summer and we were delighted to host Sophie, one of our country’s most successful Paralympians ever”.