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Award-winning motivational speaker Marcus Child has been helping year 11 pupils to stretch their ambitions and build resilience

Castle Employment Group Brings World-Leading Motivational Speaker To North Yorkshire Schools

Award-winning motivational speaker Marcus Child has been helping year 11 pupils to stretch their ambitions and build resilience at two North Yorkshire schools.

Marcus, who has worked with thousands of people and hundreds of big brands over a 25-year career, spoke to teenagers at Scalby School in Scarborough and then at Lady Lumley’s School in Pickering. The talks have been funded by Castle Education, a division of Scarborough-based Castle Employment Group, which provides supply teachers as well as permanent staff to schools throughout North and East Yorkshire. They come as part of the business’ work to support young people after two years which have taken a huge toll on their mental health, and also follows on from providing free packs of textbooks to a number of primary schools in the area.

Castle Education Business Manager Mel Benson said: “Marcus’ talks were clearly inspiring to the students he spoke to and, as well as being engaging to listen to and take part in, were full of ideas for pushing their aspirations and coping with stressful times. “We are grateful to Scalby School and Lady Lumley’s School for allowing us to bring Marcus along and for allocating vital learning time to sessions which are sure to have benefits for their future careers and their mental health.”

Marcus said: “It was a pleasure to work with so many young people who sustained concentration and pin- drop silent engagement for 90 minutes at a time. Many of them told me of their big dreams and I was struck by their obvious determination and focus.
“I sincerely hope they will take their enthusiasm and integrity into their futures and keep up these levels of self-belief and confidence knowing, as Henry Ford put it, ‘Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re probably right’.”

Scalby School Head of School Chris Robertson said: “We are grateful to Kerry and the team at Castle for providing this experience to Scalby students. “Marcus provided students with an opportunity to reflect on their current situation and to look forward to the many opportunities that await them in their short and long-term futures. “Marcus’s work complemented the other pastoral support that is provided to our year 11 students as they prepare for their external examinations and the move onto the next stage in their education as they leave Scalby in the summer. “It will certainly be an event we will look at providing in the future for our students.”

Marcus’ talks covered the following:

  • The value of asking young people to stretch their thinking and to aim very high as they consider all their future options
  • The power of positive self-talk, and how to manage language to promote a can-do attitude and growth mindset
  • Asking students to choose the person they want to be and how this can lead to making healthy choices and positive habits
  • How to grow in and navigate turbulent times, handle setbacks with grace and grow personal resilience

Castle decided to bring Marcus to the schools after Managing Director Kerry Hope attended a business event where she was inspired by his uplifting stories of the lives he has impacted. Kerry, a mum of two whose daughter Izzy is taking her GSCEs this year, said: “Marcus’ talk made me really think about what year 11s are going through, having lived through a pandemic and missed so much school, yet still having to cope with the pressure of taking exams. “I found Marcus’ talk hugely inspiring and helpful to me in enabling me to frame my own thoughts and feelings, and I felt strongly that it was something that could genuinely help young people. “Working very closely with schools throughout North and East Yorkshire, we understand the financial pressure they are under, which is why we were happy to support them by funding these talks.”

Castle has dedicated its 2022 corporate social responsibility efforts to helping young people, with donations already made this year to Scarborough Sea Cadets, the Active Burniston & Cloughton Project and the Olympic BMX hopeful Miller Temple. The company’s charity of the year, Emotion Switch, helps young people express and understand what they are feeling, and through Castle will be offering all year 11s the opportunity to have a one-to-one session to help with their mental health.

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