Harborough district school delighted at receiving letter from Leicester legend Sir David Attenborough

Church Langton C of E Primary School wrote to the veteran broadcaster at the beginning of the term about the new topic they would be studying in the new year.

Class teacher Miss Bromley said that Year 1 pupils are studying ‘lives of significant individuals’ where the children will look at two chosen individuals, their history of what they have achieved in their lives and what they may do now. Sir David Attenborough was chosen alongside the English palaeontologist Mary Anning.

Miss Bromley said they were “enthusiastic to learn more about the ‘Attenborough Effect’”.

Sir David’s links to Leicestershire, having grown up in the city and being inspired by the county’s nature, including Bradgate Park, made the children even more excited to learn about him. Many were already familiar with some of his achievements from shows including Frozen Planet and Planet Earth.

To help with their studies, Miss Bromley and the Year 1 class sent a letter to the living Leicester legend, sharing their excitement about studying him. The school revealed it received a handwritten response from the broadcaster, acknowledging their work and thanking them for choosing him as a subject to study.

He wrote: “Dear Miss Bromley. Thank you for your letter. I am very complimented that you and your class should have chosen me as a significant person in the struggle to protect wild animals and the natural world. Good luck to you all.”

And school staff were just as shocked at receiving the letter as were the children.

The school said: “We are delighted to share their letter that they received from David Attenborough, personally handwritten and signed.

“We feel this is so special and has made our Year 1 class even more excited to learn all about him! Our children will all get to have a copy of the letter once Miss Bromley has framed them so they can treasure this for years to come!”

Headteacher Lucy Anderson said: “I think it’s fair to say not only were the children very excited and inspired, but so were the staff, because obviously he’s such an inspirational figure. And what he wrote was really important to the work that we’re all trying to do, not just in school, but in the trust as well”.

Miss Bromley said the school might even invite the veteran broadcaster to the school in Church Langton.

She said: “The class and I are very excited to complete our learning about David Attenborough and will be keen to send him another letter next year to either invite him into school to visit us or we will send him some examples of our learning.

"Our David Attenborough topic starts in the new year as well as learning about the history of Mary Anning – maybe our next project will be about fossils and dinosaurs which the Year 1’s will thoroughly enjoy!”