Rishi Sunak joined pupils, staff, and parents to celebrate a North Yorkshire primary school’s success.
The MP took part in Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School’s Golden Assembly, which recognises the achievements of individual pupils.
He presented certificates at the Northallerton school and then spoke to all the pupils about aspiration – a theme for the school this year.
Mr Sunak, MP for Richmond and Northallerton, spoke about his career and told pupils about the importance of never accepting the advice of those who might tell them they could not achieve goals in life.
Citing the examples of the Olympic Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds who was told, aged eight, that she would never achieve her dream, and author J K Rowling, whose first Harry Potter book was rejected by 12 publishers, he said that they should never take No for an answer and they should never give up.
He added: "Their achievements were amazing, but they didn’t succeed at first.
"You have to work at it, it takes time and application and every week you should do something towards your goal.
"I would urge you all to start small, think big and act now.
"Anything is possible.”
After a short Q&A, he met parents who had attended the assembly before visiting individual classrooms and taking part in an art activity with the Y3/4 pupils.
Executive headteacher Paul Conway was grateful for Mr Sunak’s visit to the school.
He added: "To have a former Prime Minister visit school is a truly unique experience for staff and pupils.
"Rishi's messages were relatable and memorable and complemented our school vision of always being the best version of ourselves.
"We hope to take Rishi up on his invitation for some of our pupils to visit Westminster in the near future to witness the UK parliamentary system in action."
Sacred Heart is part of a multi-academy trust - Nicholas Postgate (NPCAT).
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NPCAT has 38 schools, including primaries, secondaries, two sixth forms, and a football academy.
Sacred Heart has close transition ties with St Francis Xavier School in Richmond.
Sacred Heart was rated ‘Good’ in its most recent Ofsted report last year.
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