Cast your mind back to your school assemblies and you may have fleeting memories of the children noisily taking their seats, arranged in year groups, with the sharp shushing of teachers, urging the kids to be quiet from the sides of the hall.
None of that was required when I attended St Mary's RC Primary School, in Wimbledon, southwest London.
Upon entering the hall, the children were awed into silence. But, then this wasn't your typical assembly, it was one the children would never forget.
Audible gasps filled the room by the St Mary's children as their eyes were drawn to the Premier League Trophy, stood in all its 30 years of glory, at the front of the hall for all to see.
Unique experience
The Premier League Trophy Tour, celebrating the 30 years of the competition, provided a unique experience for a whole host of children who had never encountered the trophy's enchanting presence.
The assembly was led by Fulham FC Foundation, who work on a regular basis at St Mary's. This time the lesson revolved around getting the students to think about how they could reflect the Premier League's core values: Being ambitious, inspiring, connected and fair.
A celebration was in order to honour the students who had displayed those values.
Year 6 pupil Skye came to the front to pick up an award for "Fairness" and was left with a lasting memory of the occasion and the Trophy.
"I was so shocked," says Skye, still brimming with excitement. "I couldn't believe it was so close to me."
Alfred got an award for being an inspiring member of his class. He cited Chelsea's Mason Mount as an inspiration, and loved the shininess of the silver Trophy.
The Trophy was then taken to each classroom for each set of students to capture a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity along with their teachers.
The Trophy's class-to-class journey was what made James Anstee, the PE lead at St Mary's, most proud.
"I'm really pleased we toured it around," says Anstee. "The photos look really great as they are personal to each of the classes.
"When we see the photos, it'll have their work in the background and then you have that focal point of the Premier League. The awe of them seeing it, it just shows how important it all is for them."
PL Primary Stars impact
The Fulham FC Foundation has worked with St Mary's for a number of years, using the Premier League Primary Stars programme to help children broaden their conversations beyond sport and discuss both their physical and mental wellbeing.
Anstee was full of praise for the Premier League's involvement.
"It's just priceless having people with that knowledge and the funding that goes in with that is so important as it’s something we as schools couldn't fund ourselves," he adds.
Clarke awarded PL Community Captain
The assembly was also an occasion to honour the role of the Foundation's Mia Clarke.
Clarke was named Fulham's PL Community Captain for her wide-ranging work in the local community, especially through the Premier League Kicks programme, which has helped her step out of her comfort zone and has had a massive impact on promoting young female football participation.
Samantha Hadley, who works closely with Mia through the Foundation, met her in 2019 and has been impressed with her progress.
"Mia's confidence has grown enormously," says Samantha. "The programme has expanded to allow more girls to attend more sessions and through upskilling herself, increasing her knowledge, it has helped Mia get involved in wider projects beyond Kicks."
As well as her PL Kicks activity, Mia has worked with the NHS and on local youth tournaments, but seeing the increase in the young girls at Kicks has been one of her most notable achievements, she says.
Samantha hopes Mia will be known in the community as "the person that drives change" and that certainly seems to be on course to happen.
