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One hundred years of the BBC have been celebrated in Harlow.

Students in Year 7 to Year 9 at Mark Hall Academy took part in the BBC Centenary Share Your Story tour.

To mark its centenary, the BBC is holding interactive assemblies for 250,000 secondary school students across the UK.

A group of 100 BBC Storytellers – including inspiring BBC staff and stars from TV, radio, sport and news - are sharing their stories of their personal journeys, setbacks and successes.

BBC Radio 1 presenter Sian Eleri hosted the show at Mark Hall with an interview with former student and now actor Danny Walters.

Danny, who has appeared as Keanu in EastEnders and Tiger in Benidorm, told students about his life and journey to success, before answering their questions.

He said: “I came to this school, so I’ve been in the seats you are in today. I grew up at Mark Hall and know a lot of the teachers. It’s crazy to be back.

“Students here will know, Harlow is a very interesting town. I am very grateful to have been brought up here and to have been a student at Mark Hall.

“Storytelling is a very powerful tool. Being a part of EastEnders, I am very lucky that I get to tell stories as a career. The stories we tell have messages to them, so it is very meaningful.”

As part of the celebrations, students were challenged to create a random story involving rapper Stormzy and broadcaster David Attenborough, to demonstrate to young people that storytelling is fun, exciting and can involve anyone or anything.

James Parker, lead practitioner for English, said: “Students and teachers thoroughly enjoyed the event.

“Students had fun learning about the importance and power of stories, gained an insight into Danny Walters’ journey as a Mark Hall student and left the event inspired that they could go and make their own story in life.”