London schoolgirl's good luck letters from Arsenal, Chelsea and the Queen

What do Barack Obama, the Queen, Boris Johnson and Usain Bolt have in common with a 16-year-old refugee from Afghanistan living in London?

The answer is that all have written
to Harrow schoolgirl Samira Khalil to wish her and her classmates good luck in their GCSEs.

Samira, who goes to Claremont High School and is revising for 14 exams, wrote to politicians, athletes and organisations asking them to give their support to herself and classmates at an important time in their lives.

She said today she approached them as she wanted to show other students how a sound education will stand them in good stead in the future.

"Back in November I asked a friend if he had revised for our early entry exams. He told me he had not revised and didn't need to as he was going to become a millionaire footballer. I was shocked," she said.

Other letters and messages of support came from Arsenal and Chelsea football clubs, Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes, Gordon Brown and Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North.

"I'm so happy to have the responses we got," said Samira. "I wanted to show students that successful sports stars, whether footballers or runners, have solid educational backgrounds.

"We had all the cards on display in our school hall and it was amazing to see messages from famous figures we admire and aspire to be like."