A helicopter, hundreds of banners, screaming staff, excited students and a really surreal afternoon… This week school was off for the afternoon as X factor finalist (and ex Notley student) Olly Murs and his mentor Simon Cowell visited Notley High. 

The year 7’s and students from Braintree Sixth Form greeted Olly and Simon as they arrived in Simon’s helicopter. Our cheerleading squad performed their winning routine as Olly and Simon posed for photos and signed autographs for the excited crowd. The rest of the school was then treated to a performance of ‘Superstition’ by Olly.

As Olly ended his performance he told the students to "believe in their dreams, as anything is possible".

Before they left the famous pair found time to relax in the staff room with a cup of tea and a cake. They allowed staff to have photos taken and signed autographs till their hands began to ache.

As Mrs. Marshall thanked them both for coming Simon Cowell thanked the school also and raved "great people, great school and great kids".

A huge thank you to Mrs. Marshall and Mrs. Moss for organising the day, to the caretakers who kept everyone in school safe, and to everyone for being flexible on the day so that the students could enjoy this once in a lifetime inspirational day.

Want to see the full set of photos taken during the visit? Click here...

Update: Olly is still a winner to us

Despite full support from Notley High School, X factor finalist and ex Notley pupil Olly Murs came second in the X factor final held Sunday night. We felt that he did extremely well to be second out of 200,000. He has shown the students that if you work hard and believe in yourself that anything is possible. We hope that he enjoys the bright recording future that he inevitably has ahead of him.