Scholesy's school trip

Scholes's legendary visit to The Orchards School

Wednesday 31 July 2024 15:04

Ahead of his appearance in the Manchester United Legends match against Celtic on Saturday 7 September, Paul Scholes took some time out to take part in a session at the Stretford school, led by the resident Foundation coaches.

The Orchards, which is one of eight SEND schools that the Foundation work in, specialises in looking after and educating children with a wide range of disabilities. A full-time delivery officer is employed by the Foundation to work in the school during term-time, providing unique educational and enrichment opportunities to its pupils.

As a parent of a child with special educational needs, Scholes was really keen to learn about the kind of work the coaches do with the students, before throwing himself into the sporting activities on a beautiful sunny day in south Manchester.

Ian Maitland, SEND officer at the Foundation, led the multi-sport session which included a small-sided game of football and the United legend was more than happy to take part, encouraging the youngsters and enjoying a laugh and a joke with them too.

One participant, called Tyler, was keen to show off his throwing skills to Paul: “Go on then, show me your tricky shot,” Paul said. Tyler obliged with an impressive 360-degree spin before successfully landing his beanbag into the net. Scholes loved it!

Much like in his playing days, the game was followed by a Q&A, but, this time, the Manchester press pack was replaced by our group of curious youngsters! “Did you score a million goals?” one asked, to which Paul replied “I don’t think it was quite that many!”

“The work the Foundation does in special educational needs schools is amazing, and it’s something that’s really close to my heart,” Paul said. “You have to admire the coaches and the extra activities that they can provide for the kids so they’re not stuck inside all day. It’ll help them develop and you can see they love it too.

“It can be hard for the parents of these children so to have this additional support, from the school and the coaches, is brilliant."

Ian added: "The children felt really comfortable around Paul straight away, which was brilliant to see as a calm environment is so important for our children.

“He made sure he spent the same amount of time with each group during the session, who all loved him joining in with the activities - and he was amazing at remembering their names!

“These kinds of sessions also help the children develop key life and social skills such as teamwork, taking turns and sharing social space,” he explained.

“It’s always really rewarding to see the children’s confidence develop during these sessions too and it was made extra special by having Paul there.”

Another participant, Khion, caught Scholes’ eye with some sharp shooting during the sessions and went on to tell Paul that he trains at The Cliff – just as Scholes himself used to - as part of the Foundation’s Ability Counts programme.

“We’ve been playing football, throwing, catching and running,” he said. “It was amazing to play with Paul and he even gave us a certificate and a signed picture!”

Scholes will, of course, be back in action again very soon just a few miles down the road from the The Orchards, when he lines up at Old Trafford up alongside fellow United legends to take on Celtic on Saturday 7 September.

Scholesy goes back to school Video

The midfield legend joined in the fun at one of our Foundation's partner SEND schools, The Orchards, in Trafford...

“I just keep thinking of the Stretford End,” Scholes enthused. “I absolutely love shooting that way; I’ll need to do a bit of training before the seventh but I can’t wait to come back.

“Obviously, we want to win the game but the most important thing is to raise money and get as many fans down as possible to support the Foundation.”

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