Dozens of young students at Kenton School were thrilled to meet their idol this week as the Newcastle-born defender returned to his roots and the football fields where he sharpened his skills.
Dummett received a guided tour of the academy by pupils engaging with the Foundation's Partner Schools programme – a curriculum-based programme delivered by Newcastle United Foundation on site.
Kenton School is the first school in Newcastle to partner with the Foundation, which sees weekly visiting from the charity, providing a mixture of timetabled sessions, one-to-one support and social action volunteering opportunities.
While visiting classes on the campus which was rebuilt as a state-of-the-art facility in 2008, Dummett heard how Premier League Inspires encourages children and young adults to achieve their full potential.
Now 28 and a key figure for the Magpies, Dummett was able to share his story of balancing his studies with his steady progression through the ranks of the United’s Academy from the age of nine.
He said: “The work that the Foundation does is very important and brilliant for the region.
“Some areas need more help than others and I have no doubt that Kenton will hugely benefit from the work that the Foundation does as pretty much everyone around here loves and relates to football.
“The work the coaches do in schools is fantastic and gives the kids something a bit different that maybe something they can relate to and engage with more than the usual lessons.”
After spending time back in the classroom, the Welsh international headed over to the PE department with Foundation coach Carl Robson.
Dummett added: “Kenton and the rest of the schools in the area benefit massively from the Foundation’s work and I think the partner schools scheme sounds exciting and something I certainly would have engaged with when I was here.
“The fact that the Foundation have a full-time member of staff at Kenton is great and brilliant for the young kids to have such a strong link to the Club.”
The Newcastle United Foundation offers a number of School programmes bringing the curriculum for life for pupils aged four to 18. Each programme uses the passion for football and brand of Newcastle United to engage with pupils of all abilities across a number of areas, including PE, PSHE, literacy and numeracy.
Newcastle United Foundation Acting Operations Manager Steve Mack said: “It has been fantastic to welcome Paul back to his old school and for him to see Newcastle United Foundation changing lives of the current cohort with Premier League Inspires.
“Paul is a very important role model to pupils here who can see that with hard work and determination, they can really achieve and fulfil their potential.
“We’ve met lots of young people here who aspire to play for their hometown club and players like Paul, the Longstaff brothers and Andy Carroll are amazing examples of what can be achieved.”
He added: “Everyone at the Foundation and Kenton School is incredibly grateful to Paul for taking the time out of his busy training schedule to see our partnership in action.”
For more information, visit nufoundation.org.uk.
