Education programme tour of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles
Glasgow 2014 mascot Clyde will spend this week (23-28 Feb) touring Scotland’s island local authorities, visiting schools and spreading excitement about the upcoming Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The visits to Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles have been organised by Game On Scotland, the education programme of the Games, and will also involve appearances by the programme’s ambassador, Scotland hockey star Holly Cram.
Both Clyde and Holly will be surprising pupils who’ve been using the Games to inspire their learning, visiting 24 schools across the three local authorities. In addition, they’ll be meeting with Youth Legacy Ambassadors and local community and sports groups. The visits coincide with the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council’s Legacy Week, which provides a spotlight on Legacy 2014 opportunities and benefits across Scotland.
On Friday, Dr Alasdair Allan MSP, Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages, will present a Game On Scotland plaque to Tong Primary School on the Isle of Lewis, in recognition of their Games-related work. Throughout the week other schools across Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles will be recognised in a similar way.
Paul Zealey, Head of Engagement and Legacy at Glasgow 2014, said:
“More than a quarter of a million children and young people are already benefitting from participating in Game On Scotland, the official Glasgow 2014 education programme.
“By the end of this Legacy Week, our mascot Clyde will have taken opportunities to learn from the Games to schools in every local authority area in Scotland.”
Alison Drever Senior Education Officer, Education Scotland said:
“We are delighted to see the high level of creativity and enthusiasm of children and young people engaged with Game On Scotland, both across the islands and in schools across the country. It is inspiring to see the innovative approaches from learners and practitioners alike to provide inspirational learning opportunities around the Games.”
We had a fantastic morning today at Tong school when we received special visitors. The Minister for Learning, Sciences and Scotland’s Languages, Dr Alasdair Allan, who is also our MSP; our Director of Education, Mr Peter Carpenter; the Sports Centre Manager, Mr Tony Wade; Active Schools Coordinators Eric Macleod and Jenna Stewart; P.E. Specialist Mrs Rogers; Erica Clark and Karen Macleod from Community Education. Our Young ambassadors were also present, three who were past pupils of Tong School and two who were past pupils of Back school, Eleanor Smith, Sarah Macleod, Peter Macdonald, Alasdair Barden and John Maciver and Clyde the Commonwealth games mascot all came to Tong school for a very special event.Clyde was so much fun. We shared Tong school’s Game On plan, which we are all excited about and we received our Game On plaque from Dr Allan. Thank you to everyone for making our day so memorable and so special. We are all looking forward very much to the Commonwealth Games in July.