A FORMER England and British Lions player visited Westville House School to talk about an Arctic fundraising expedition and kick-off the school's Rugby World Cup day.

Tim Stimpson spoke at the Ilkley prep school's assembly dressed in full Arctic kit to talk about his recent fundraising expedition. He explained to the children how he had battled temperatures of -35°C, woke up to his sleeping bag covered in ice and took his turn on polar bear look-out duty.

Explaining about the work of The Wooden Spoon charity, for which he is the current national ambassador, Mr Stimpson told of the efforts made to raise money to help disadvantaged and disabled children access sport.

Mr Stimpson talked about the importance of teamwork, co-operation and humility to achieve success.

He added: “I am a great believer in people working as a team and helping each other.

"It is wonderful to watch a group of people achieve so much when they work together."

Many children had questions for Mr Stimpson about his travels to the Arctic and fundraising, but the most important question came from five-year-old Summer Brown, who wanted to know if he had spotted Father Christmas on his journey! Sadly, he had been unable to spot Santa or his elves but did mention some very scary polar bears.

All the lessons of the curriculum that day were taught with a rugby focus. Each form had world class rugby coaching from England RFU development officer, Nick Hyde, and the staff and younger children were treated to a performance of the famous Maori Haka – the traditional chat from the New Zealand All Blacks ahead of matches – by the whole of the prep department. All the children and staff were dressed head to toe in bright rugby kit and the day was rounded off by a staff v parents tag rugby match.

Headteacher, Ian Shuttleworth, spoke of his delight at the way the whole school had embraced the rugby day and had demonstrated creative thought, both in lesson planning and rugby kits.

“It’s wonderful to see the whole school working together and demonstrating innovation within the curriculum," he added. "The children have had a wonderful day and will no doubt remember it for a long time to come.”