St Gregory’s Primary School in Sudbury presents award to Strictly Come Dancing duo for inspiring people with disabilities

The performances of a ground-breaking dancing duo have earned a special award from a Sudbury school, which praised the pair for inspiring others with disabilities.

St Gregory’s Primary School announced Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell – two current contestants on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing – as winners of its ‘Life In All Its Fullness’ Award.

Actor and comedian Chris – the first ever blind contestant in the programme’s history – has progressed to the final four of the series, while partnered with professional dancer Diane.

Inspired by their routines, pupils at St Gregory’s wrote to the pair to present them with their award, inspired by the school motto.

The children praised Chris for “showing the world just how special, creative and talented people with disabilities are”, and Diane for being the “kind, patient and fun” teacher that everyone should have.

“When we watch your dances in assembly, it brings us so much joy and makes us really happy,” the letter reads.

“We have a specialist unit here at the school, full of incredible children with lots of different needs, and we know that everyone is special and everyone can do brilliant things.”

Headteacher Daniel Woodrow told the Free Press that they hope the award they sent to the pair will sit alongside a Strictly winner’s trophy, should they prevail in this week’s final.

“We have been really enjoying Strictly at St Greg’s this year, and we especially love Chris and Dianne,” he said. “We watch their dances in assembly, and we don’t know how they do it.

“Dianne is an amazing teacher, and Chris is such an inspiration, who shows that you should always have a go at something, because you never know what you might achieve.

“Our school vision is Life In All Its Fullness, and we have an award with the same name, which we give to people who inspire others, celebrate our differences and teach us to embrace all opportunities that come our way.

“This term, we have given it to Chris and Diane. We hope they like it, and we hope it’s not the only trophy they get this week.”