Nasturtiums

Miss E brought this nasturtium home from school the other day. Along with some tasty lettuce and spring onions. They've been growing things all term which is pretty much her favourite thing in the world!!
Miss L and I met Mrs C and Mr C in Harris + Hoole this morning for a cup of tea and a chat before going to the park. Miss L and Mr C made friends with an older girl at another table and spent most of the time with her. In fact they all spent most of the time under the table! Quiet and happy, yay!!!!
From there we went to Padbury park which was lovely. Miss L and Mr C had fun and it was so sweet seeing them together.
All of a sudden I realised it was time to get to Miss E's school for her awards ceremony. We zoomed over and got there just in time for bucks fizz before going in!! Obviously the bucks fizz was for me, Miss L had orange juice!
The ceremony was lovely - the children were all so proud of themselves going up to get their certificates and cups from Olympic rower Alison Mowbray. When they got to subject cups the teachers said a little about the winner and why they'd won which was very inspiring. Hopefully Miss E will have taken it onboard!!
Once all the awards had been handed out Alison Mowbray spoke for about half an hour which was wonderful.
She talked about being no good at all sport at school - couldn't run, catch, throw or hit!! - and explained how she got into rowing at university and found she was good at it. She went through all the trials and tribulations of training, coming tenth at the Sydney Olympics and wanting to do better. All while completing a pHD and teacher training. Early starts and hard work!
She said after Sydney she set herself the goal of getting a medal at Athens.  She joined a quad crew, worked harder and harder for a year, and at the first world championships they came......
Fifth. And what do you get for fifth?
Nothing!
And she was sad.
But did she give up or carry on?
She carried on! She worked harder and trained harder, and at the next world championships they came......
Fifth!
And so it went on.
She said at the last world championships before the Olympics they came fourth and she sat on the bank and cried.
But she didn't give up, she gave up work and trained harder and harder.
They won their qualifying heat and went straight through to the final. 2000m between her and the medal she'd been working towards for four years.
She went through the race in fabulous detail - you could have heard a pin drop! Germans on their left, the reigning Olympic champions, the Australians - world champions. It was so exciting!! 
They came second. 
She explained that at first she was disappointed. If they'd had a few more metres they could have caught the Germans. But she eventually realised that she'd fulfilled her ambition to get an Olympic medal. She choked up as she asked "what had I wanted?" and "what had I got?" as she took the silver medal out of her pocket to show us. Naturally I choked up as well. It was incredibly emotional!
And so inspiring. What a wonderful role model to all the children - and adults! - listening. Just brilliant!!
After the ceremony Miss L and I  had a look at the medal and felt its weight. Naturally I'd forgotten my phone so I didn't get a photo of it but what an amazing thing - to hold an Olympic medal!!