Houses

Malala Yousafzai is a young Pakistani woman and an educational activist who achieved a great deal during her years in secondary education. When she was eleven years old, she started writing a blog for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban rule and her views on promoting education for girls, who were often being denied the right to attend school by the Taliban. Despite the huge risk to her own life, Malala continued to speak out against the denial of a right to an education. She began to be internationally recognised and was given numerous awards including Pakistan’s first national Youth Peace Prize in 2011. As her public profile rose, so did the threat to her life. In 2012, Taliban Leaders unanimously agreed to kill her and did shoot her in 2012 as she rode home on a bus after taking an examination. 

Malala not only survived but has been completely undeterred in her mission and used her Nobel Peace Prize winner status to spread her powerful message across the globe. Malala was chosen because of her bravery and her integrity. She reminds us of how grateful we should be for our own education and to not be afraid of seizing opportunities.

Tim Parry was never able to do anything notable or inspirational as a teenager as he died at just twelve years old. He was seriously injured by an IRA bomb attack in Warrington in 1993. Tim died five days later from injuries sustained the blast which also killed three year old Jonathan Ball and left 56 people injured.   His father, Colin Parry, described Tim as ‘an ordinary friendly lad, with a smile and personality that attracted friends.  He had an impish sense of humour and a thirst for life – making it all the more ironic that it was his life that was taken”. 

Tim loved football, was a true Everton supporter, was learning to play the guitar and had a very promising future ahead of him. Tim was chosen because of the notable and inspirational deeds his parents have done in his name since his death.  Colin and Wendy Parry set up the Tim Parry Trust Fun to promote greater understanding between Great Britain and Ireland. They worked closely with the NSPCC to develop the Peace Centre in Warrington, to promote peace and understanding amongst any community affected by conflict and violence.  We learn from Tim the ongoing necessity for conflict resolution and the value of community.

Ellie Simmonds (OBE), is a British Paralympian swimmer. At just thirteen years old, she won two gold medals for Great Britain in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. In 2012 when she was still only seventeen, Ellie secured another two Gold medals in the London Olympics and set a World record for the 400m freestyle, going on to win a further Gold medal in the Rio Olympics. 

In 2008 she won the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year. At fourteen years she became the youngest person ever to receive a MBE from the Queen. She later received her OBE in 2013 for her services to Paralympic Sport. Ellie studied psychology at Loughborough University and has also published a series of children’s novels. Ellie was chosen for her perseverance, her grit and her great character. She has worked extremely hard for her great achievements and shows us that with good self-discipline, dreams can become reality.;

Stephen Sutton (MBE) was a charity activist known for his blog ‘Stephen’s Story’ and his fundraising efforts for the Teenage Cancer Trust.  Despite being diagnosed with cancer at 15 and undergoing six months of chemotherapy, he still achieved 5A*s and 4As in his GCSEs. He went on to secure all A* and As at A-Level. Stephen was an extremely bright, charismatic individual who epitomises our motto ‘Age Quod Agis’, because whatever he did, he did it to the best of his ability.  When told his cancer was terminal, Stephen wrote a bucket list of forty six weird and wonderful things he wanted to do before he died.

Top of this list was his ambition to raise £10,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust, a charity which supports teenagers with cancer. Stephen died at nineteen years old, but managed to raise a staggering £5.5 million for the charity.  Stephen liked to say “Life isn’t measured by the amount of time you have, it’s measured by your achievements”. We chose Stephen for his relentless optimism and for proving that whatever setbacks and challenges we face, great achievements are still possible.