This World Book Day, author and motivational speaker Action Jackson visited pupils in Hastings thanks to a partnership between the National Literacy Trust Hub in Hastings and Bloomsbury Publishing.
Jackson Ogunyemi, better known as Action Jackson, is an acclaimed motivational speaker who runs workshops and assemblies on resilience, self-belief and motivation. His new book, Happy School 365 (published by Bloomsbury Education) comes out later this year and aims to help teachers unlock their students’ potential for success.
230 Year 7 students from Hastings Academy and Year 6 pupils from Sandown Primary School attended Jackson’s assembly as part of World Book Day celebrations in the town.
Jackson spoke to the students about the challenges he faced at and beyond school, interacting with them to find out their aspirations and empowering them to aim high. Jackson led the assembly in a series of fun activities to show how even seemingly impossible tasks can be achievable and fun when you work together.
New research from the National Literacy Trust found that, while young people have high academic, professional and personal aspirations, 2 in 5 (43%) either don’t believe or are unsure they will achieve their aspirations, with the main barrier being a lack of confidence in their own ability (55.5% of girls vs 41.7% of boys)1.
The students were incredibly engaged with the session with many staying behind to talk to Jackson and get his autograph. Sam, age 11, said of Jackson: “he made me laugh – I learnt that when life gets you down you should stay positive” and Freya, also 11, said: “we learnt about happiness and that it is always good to stay positive – when I’ve finished school I want to be an author and write happy books”.
Sandown teacher Michelle Smith commented that “the session was incredibly positive but also very uplifting and very real”, and Hastings Academy’s English Lead Abigail Jewiss, said: “we really enjoyed the session and the positive ideas that came out. It was great to see the children think about believing in themselves more and to have a dream about what they would like to do”.
Graeme Quinnell, Manager of the National Literacy Trust Hub in Hastings, said: “Having Action Jackson come and speak to the students was an amazing experience and will inspire them to have a positive attitude to learning and raise their aspirations. He really engaged the students throughout the session and it was clear from their reactions, both during and after, that he had a huge impact on them.”
Helen Diamond, Editorial Director of Bloomsbury Education, said: “Action Jackson’s enthusiasm for life and helping young people achieve their goals shines through in everything he does – he calls himself the UK Ambassador for Happiness and rightly so. We are thrilled to be publishing his book Happy School 365 this year where Jackson sets out his vision for developing a generation of young people who are happy, healthy and successful.”
The National Literacy Trust Hub in Hastings and Bloomsbury Publishing launched a three-year partnership last summer to inspire a love of reading in the town, raise the aspirations of primary school children, and help adults with literacy challenges to access the support they need to improve their own literacy skills.
Find out more about the National Literacy Hub in Hastings at literacytrust.org.uk/communities/hastings
