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Charlie Martin speaks at our LGBT+ history month

Racing driver Charlie Martin spoke to our Year 8 and 9 students talk about her life and career as part of our LGBT+ history month.

We are a Stonewall Champion School, and so Charlie visited as one of the scheme's role models to give students an insight into her life, racing and provide inspiration. The students loved her talk and watching racetrack and media interview film clips.

Kettering Science Academy’s Anti-Bullying Lead Teacher Mr Crane said: ‘Charlie talked to our students about racing, her career and how her upbringing was different because she was born male. The students absolutely loved it and you could hear a pin drop in the room.

‘It was pretty incredible and quite an inspiring story. The theme was being yourself, having aspirations and being true to achieving your goal. She explained about her racing and her transgender journey and the questions students asked at the end were inspiring. Some of the student feedback included: “What an inspiration it was to have Charlie in our assembly. She was such a lovely person and I got to talk to her at the end about my career goals.”

‘We have an anti-bullying theme every month. Our aim is to open student’s minds by giving them information about the world around them. There were 550 students in today’s assembly and they listened to every single word. All the students loved it as they wanted to know more about her being a racing driver and when she showed all the TV shows she had been on, some were saying "I can be a racing driver too." The message was simple – to do what you want to do, not what you think you have to.’