A Medway school welcomed back a former pupil who gave a celebrity story time as the top prize in a countywide double challenge.

Lordswood School in Chatham enjoyed a visit from England rugby union player Rachael Burford after taking first place in a competition to find the county’s best bookworms and walk to school champs.

The contest was organised by the KM Charity Team and open to schools participating in the reading reward scheme Buster’s Book Club and the KM Walk to School campaign. Classes were encouraged to make an extra effort to reach or exceed their home reading targets and swap the family car for walking or cycling to school.

Hazel Class were the lucky winners and they clinched the storyteller visit which was delivered during a whole-school assembly on Wednesday, May 1. Each pupil in the class also received a child-entry ticket to Historic Dockyard Chatham.

Rachael was given a tour by the head teacher and the chance to reminisce on schooldays at her former junior school before reading aloud the children’s chosen book Catkin by Antonia Barber. The fairytale-style story centres on a tiny, magical cat who is sent to protect and subsequently rescue a human child.

Chatham-born Rachael spent the first ten years of her career with Medway RFC. She has represented England at the 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cups.

She said she’d had “a wonderful time” coming back to her old school and congratulated Hazel Class on their achievements.

The KM Charity Team’s work with schools is supported by organisations including Whites Transport, Ashford International Hotel, Three R’s Teacher Recruitment, Whitefriars, Kent Community Foundation, Golding Vision, Orbit South, Specsavers, Leeds Castle, Rotary, Acorns Read and Grow, Crown Foundation, The Gibbons Trust, Volker Highways, Countrystyle Recycling, Eurostar, Gatwick Airport, The Ernest Cook Trust, Little Cheyne Court, and the Kent, Medway, Maidstone, Ashford and Bexley councils.

The charity’s KM Walk to School campaign includes Super Wow (Walk on Wednesday) and Green Footsteps. Both schemes, along with Buster’s Book Club, motivate whole classes to achieve together. Each week, they compete for the Class of the Week Trophy for reading or green travel. Prizes for monthly inter-school challenges have included tickets to leisure attractions, storyteller sessions, theatre workshops, and falconry experiences.

To find out more, visit www.KmCharityTeam.co.uk