Sky Academy Ambassador Jessica Ennis-Hill made a surprise visit to Leeds today to present 15-year-old  Steffan Rothery-Wager with the Sky Sports Living for Sport Student of the Year Award for England.

Reigning Olympic Champion Ennis-Hill surprised Steffan, and more than 200 students, when she interrupted a Year 10 performance of Fame at Temple Moor High School to give him the award, broadcast live on Sky Sports News HQ. 

Steffan will now attend the Sky Sports Living for Sport Awards at Sky Studios in London this weekend to discover whether he will be crowned the overall UK & Ireland Student of the Year.  He will be up against winners for Wales, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Scotland and the Awards will be broadcast on Sky Sports 1 on Sunday 29 March 2015 at 7.30pm. 

The Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of students and teachers in using sport stars and the skills learnt through sport to  build life skills as a result of their involvement in the programme. Sky Sports Living for Sport is part of Sky Academy, a set of initiatives using the power of TV, creativity and sport to help one million young people in the UK and Ireland build practical skills and experience to unlock their potential. 

Jessica Ennis-Hill said: “I’m delighted to present Steffan with the Student of the Year Award for England. Steffan was once a very challenging student but he now applies himself in school and has changed his behaviour for the better. He has a bright future ahead of him thanks to the life skills learned through Sky Sports Living For Sport and is a deserving winner. I’ll be tuning in on Sunday to see which of our five winners picks up the overall UK & Ireland Student of the Year Award.”

Steffan was selected as the Student of the Year winner for England by a panel of judges for participating in the Sky Sports Living for Sport programme to tackle his bad behaviour at school. Steffan was a challenging student, regularly causing disruption to his classmates and teachers, which saw him frequently removed from lessons. 

Participating in Sky Sports Living for Sport presented  Steffan with the tools to overcome his troublesome nature. Steffan was also inspired by Athlete Mentor Rachael MacKenzie’s advice  who shared new ways to channel his energy, focus his mind and set personal goals to overcome his negative behaviour while working with him on the programme. 

Mackenzie’s words combined with the life skills Steffan gained through the Sky Sports Living for Sport project certainly hit home. Steffan was the only student on the project to achieve 100% attendance, and his commitment to the project and remarkable transformation saw him elected as a student ambassador to inspire the next group of students to take part in the programme. 

Steffan’s teacher Ross Dunn said, “I am over the moon that Steffan has been nominated for this award. He has grown enormously as a person and effective student as a result of taking part in the project, and can be proud of the journey he has made in relation to his academic and personal life as a result. I have no doubt that the skills and positive attitude he has developed during the Sky Sports Living for Sport experience will stay with him for life.”

The Sky Sports Living for Sport initiative has been running in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust since 2003 and this academic year alone over 1500 UK secondary schools and 175 Irish secondary schools will take part.

To get involved and sign up to Sky Sports Living for Sport visit www.skysports.com/livingforsport.

For further information, please contact:

Jim Curtis or Will Taylor

tpf

02075806200

jimcurtis@tpf-london.com

williamtaylor@tpf-london.com 

Follow us on twitter @SkyAcademy

About Sky 

Sky is Europe’s leading entertainment company. The group serves 21 million customers across five countries: Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK and Ireland. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.

Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe’s leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of over £4.6 billion. The company employs 31,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).

For more information visit www.sky.com/corporate 

To find out more about Sky Sports Living for Sport, please visit our website https://livingforsport.skysports.com/

About Sky Academy

Sky Sports Living for Sport is part of Sky Academy, a unique and groundbreaking set of initiatives that uses the power of television, creativity and sport to inspire young people and help them build skills and confidence.  At Sky, we want to use our position as a leading media and communications company to make a positive impact on society. So, to mark our 25th anniversary, in November 2013 Sky Academy was launched with an ambition to create opportunities for one million young people by 2020.  There are many other free initiatives that form Sky Academy, that your school and students can take part in.  

To find out more about these initiatives visit our website http://www.sky.com/academy 

About Youth Sport Trust: Wellbeing. Leadership. Achievement.

The Youth Sport Trust is a national charity that is building a brighter future for young people through PE and sport. Through 20 years of experience we have developed a unique way of maximising the power of sport to grow young people, schools and communities through the development of qualities including creativity, aspiration, resilience and empathy. For more information, please visit www.youthsporttrust.org