Like other boys his age in 2007 -2009, Jamal had a PS2 and would “brash” anyone at Pro Evo or Fifa. He had started playing the guitar in year 5 at Eliot Bank School and continued to hone those skills through the next few years. He was determined to learn how to play Ben E. King’s ‘Stand By Me’ and he spent many hours perfecting the song, which would become one of the records associated with him. Whilst at Eliot Bank, Jamal went on his first residential trip to Arethusa, which was widely anticipated by Eliot Bank students every year. The trip saw him take on several challenges through kayaking, trekking and having to complete many character building obstacle courses at great heights. The trip proved a “sick” holiday with all of his closest friends from school.

Jamal also spent a considerable amount of time studying, doing 11+ examination preparation and Kumon. Studying both Maths and English, Jamal did particularly well in Maths, to achieve G-Primary in Maths in year 6. However, not only was he a Kumon student, he was his mum’s little helper, spending many hours picking Kumon sheets for his mother’s students and assisting however he could to run the weekly Kumon drop- in sessions.  

In the summer of 2009, Jamal went to Disneyland Paris with his extended family and siblings for the second time. Jamal loved the trip and was too excited at the prospect of going away – he was too “gassed”.

He deserved it, he had worked hard and had excelled in entrance exams for Whitgift, Wallington and Wilson Secondary schools.  He was initially keen on attending Wilson’s Grammar school but after weighing the options, the family decided that he should attend Wallington County Grammar School. Though a committed member of the WCGS community, Jamal maintained links with Wilson’s through his secondary school years and had close friends in both schools.

His summer before secondary school started was spent with extended family. Jamal and his immediate family visited the Adeyemi’s in Aberdeen, Scotland. Jamal had a lovely time seeing how much his baby cousin Fola had grown and having fun with the family. He also spent time with the Comla’s,  who came to London on vacation.  Both family’s enjoyed trips to Buckingham Palace and to Trafalgar Square.

When he started WCGS, the family were living in Thornton Heath. Jamal and his sister, Zainab, had gotten closer through the years. He and his sister used to get the bus to school and unlike other siblings, they hardly argued and formed a strong bond. For a term, he stayed back after school telling his sister that he had to stay behind for some extra-curricular activities. In reality, he had been staying after school to paint a portrait of his sister which he surprised her with on her 14th birthday.

At WCGS Jamal was in 7C and on review of his academic year, he received many commendation letters detailing his achievements. His autumn progress report is particularly impressive where he achieved 11 commendations. Some of the commendation letters are in the gallery section. He was also one of two year 7 students that gave a speech at the WCGS Open Day that year.

Always a keen sportsman, Jamal’s first love was football. He enjoyed playing it and loved watching football games with his dad. Manchester United was his club of choice and he supported Man U with an unwavering passion. He started playing with Lewisham Youth F.C. in 2009. He was described as “a real workhorse… a pleasure to work with, with a great attitude”. Apart from football, he got involved in most sports, including rugby and athletics. He took part in the Sutton Borough Athletics Competition from year 7 until year 10. He came 4th out of 180, in the year 7 assault course that took part on Friday 23rd of October 2009 and helped his house (Carew) win the event. He was also on reporting duties for the day, below is an excerpt from his report in the WCGS News:

“There were boys slipping and sliding into the small pond and struggling to get up. Teachers were taking pictures and cheering everyone on. There were boos from boys against their opposing houses and cheers from those supporting their own house.

Smiles filled the faces of the Year 7 students… even those who didn’t win.”

Jamal was born on Saturday 7th of March 1998 at 14:46. He came into the world weighing 8 pounds and 1 ounce via an emergency caesarian section as his mother's labour was not progressing. The initial examination showed that he had no significant abnormalities but he did have a birthmark on his posterior left thigh. He was transferred to the William Gilliatt Ward in Kings College Hospital in London and was discharged home two days after his birth. His mother describes her pregnancy with Jamal as the least stressful of her three pregnancies and states she worked at her job up to a few weeks prior to going into labour.  On Saturday 14th March 1998 he was named, Abdul-Jamal Kolawole Oluwatosin Oluwafolajimi Olaoluwa Adigun OTTUN.