Guest Speaker, Paul Hannaford

PSHCE ASSEMBLY

Students were fortunate enough to have an assembly on Monday with Paul Hannaford. Paul has lived an extremely varied life and now speaks to thousands of students each month about his life. He educated and warned about the dangers of carrying knives, drugs, gangs, county lines and more. We are working with Paul to arrange a date for Parents and Carers to come in to school and meet with him too. Students were totally engaged throughout and appreciated Paul's honesty and advice. 

Miss Thompkins, Deputy Headteacher

Earlier this week, each of Years 8 - 13 had a PSHCE assembly, during which our guest speaker, Paul Hannaford, delivered a compelling talk on the impact drugs have had on his life.

Paul discussed how he initially became involved with drugs and criminal activity, which saw his childhood dream of becoming a professional football player crushed.  He talked in detail about his involvement in gangs and drug dens.  Paul spoke candidly about the crimes that he committed, escalating from shoplifting to violent knife crime and armed robbery and his experience of life in prison.

Paul’s life story is quite disturbing with the reasons behind his drug use and the injuries he received, both from other people and self inflicted - he showed us graphic pictures of the wounds associated with drug use and the treatment he required, for example the use of maggots to remove infected flesh.  Paul discussed his current state of health and the lasting effects he experiences, such as the bleeding from his legs that still occurs today.  In addition, Paul’s choices impacted on his family - he abandoned his daughter before she was born due to the hold drugs had on him.

Overall his story gave us a powerful message about the devastating consequences that drug use can have, both to a person, their family and friends and the wider community.

Spencer AR (10B)