Sheffield Olympian Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill unveils plaque at King Ecgbert School
“The network, the teachers and the support they gave me helped me go on to achieve great things”
A red ‘Made in State School’ plaque - styled after the blue heritage plaques, celebrating state school alumni - has been unveiled in Sheffield in front of students and teachers.
Olympic gold medallist Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill unveiled the plaque at her former school, King Ecgbert School, Dore.
It was the very first in a new national heritage campaign celebrating state school success.
King Ecgbert School was selected as one of the first schools in the country to receive a plaque as part of The 93% Club's new Made in State School campaign.
The 93% Club is a community proud of its educational background and built on the principle that state-educated people should have the same unrestricted access to the networks of support, knowledge and influence that have historically benefitted their privately-educated peers.
Dame Jessica said: “I think it’s really important, if I think back to my childhood my sister and I grew up in the centre of Sheffield, opportunities were great, athletics was an opportunity to expand my horizons and different things and coming to a school like King Ecgberts that helped me.
“The network, the teachers and the support they gave me helped me go on to achieve great things.”
Dame Jessica joins a line-up of icons selected by the public for the first cohort of plaques, which also includes Sir David Attenborough, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Stormzy and Harry Kane.
Paul Haigh, Headteacher at King Ecgbert School, said: "We are hugely proud that Jessica is one of our own, and honoured that the public chose her as one of the first state school icons to be recognised in this way.
“Her achievements inspire people right across Sheffield, but for our pupils they carry a special meaning - that she sat in the same classrooms and walked through the same gates as they do every day.
"This plaque will be a lasting reminder to every young person at King Ecgbert that they can achieve whatever they set their sights on."
Any state school or sixth-form college in the UK can receive a plaque, and anyone can make a nomination, including schools nominating their own alumni. Nominations for the first round have now closed, but the public can still suggest state school icons for future rounds at 93percent.club/nominate.