Category Archives: Glasgow 2014

Active, Glasgow 2014, Sport

Game On: Sport Your Trainers for Glasgow 2014!

February 5, 2014 K. Mayer 6 Comments

[Please click here to visit the latest Sport Your Trainers post, including details of a great blog competition!]

The countdown is on, with less than six months until the best athletes from 70 nations and territories arrive in Scotland to compete at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

To warm up for Scotland’s biggest-ever festival of sport and culture, you are invited to join in with Glasgow 2014’s annual Commonwealth Day celebration, Sport Your Trainers. The big event will take place on 10 March 2014 and organisers are continuing their tradition of encouraging young people to wear their trainers on the day as a symbolic gesture of support for Glasgow 2014. It doesn’t stop there: in the lead up to summer, the Games provide a platform for learning across the curriculum and beyond.

Sport Your Trainers is a great opportunity to bring the XX Commonwealth Games to life in your school, group or local community. Game On Scotland, the official Glasgow 2014 education programme, contains a wealth of information, resources and opportunities which can be used to design your own inspiring Sport Your Trainers activities. Why not learn about the nations and territories of the Commonwealth or arrange taster sessions in Games’ sports? Sport Your Trainers provides the perfect moment to celebrate Games-related learning and activities as we count down to the Opening Ceremony.

Over half of the people in the Commonwealth are under 25 years of age and we want to make sure that the children and young people of Scotland have every chance to engage with Glasgow 2014. Why not start making plans today?

To register for this Scotland-wide project and to receive a link to a Digital Toolkit filled with Sport Your Trainers resources, please email SportYourTrainers@glasgow2014.com

Please note pupils are encouraged to wear their trainers to school on Sport Your Trainers day, Monday 10 March. However, it is not compulsory. Local Authorities/school senior management should use their discretion as to whether this is appropriate footwear for their schools.

Clyde, Game On Challenge, plaque

Blackwood, Killermont, Mossvale & St James’s all awarded plaques

February 4, 2014 User deactivated 3 Comments

Clyde was continuing his Game On Scotland tour today, his 7th day of this most recent tour visiting schools around Scotland. Once again he was recognising excellent Games-related learning by awarding Game On Scotland plaques to some of the schools on his travels. Today began with a plaque presentation to Blackwood Primary, South Lanarkshire then onto Killermont Primary in East Dunbartonshire and finishing at St James’s and Mossvale Primaries in Renfrewshire. All four schools were the first in their area to receive the Game On Scotland accolade for their use of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games as a context for learning. Congratulations!

If your school would like to receive a Game On Scotland plaque (as well as a range of other benefits, including mascot visits), then make sure you register a Game On Challenge, telling us about your plans.

Clyde, Game On Challenge, Inspire>Aspire, plaque

Banchory and Broxburn latest schools to receive plaques

February 3, 2014 User deactivated 2 Comments

Into the second week of his Game On Scotland tour and Clyde stopped at Banchory Primary in Clackmannanshire and Broxburn Primary in West Lothian, awarding both schools Game On Scotland plaques in recognition of their great Glasgow 2014 work. Congratulations to both schools, which are the first in their local authority areas to receive a plaque.

Banchory Primary has made excellent use of the materials and opportunities available on the Game On Scotland site, taking part in Glow Meets, using the learning journeys and joining in with projects and competitions. The school has also been getting active with cycling a big part – pupils have been undertaking training and are now part of bike clubs, with funds raised to take a trip to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome later in the session. Speaking of fundraising, pupils also raised £800 through enterprise activities to support community projects in Ghana. That’s just a flavour of a huge range of activity, but the story here is very much about seizing opportunities to enhance learning and working with partners in the community to realise ambitions!

Meanwhile, at Broxburn, there are more great examples. Using the obvious connection to physical education as a starting point, the school has then broadened out their learning across the curriculum. The school gratefully acknowledges the support they’ve received from a Big Lottery grant, which has allowed them to secure training for staff and recruit sport coaches for after-school clubs. Amongst other things, the school has also been involved in learning around the Queen’s Baton Relay, the Inspire-Aspire programme and Champions in Schools.

Clyde, Game On Challenge, Holly Cram, plaque

Seven more schools awarded plaques

January 31, 2014 User deactivated Leave a comment

Today has been the busiest day of Clyde’s tour so far. Clyde visited five schools and all of them were presented with Game Scotland plaques and our Game On Scotland ambassador, Holly Cram, also presented a plaque to another two schools – seven in one day! Clyde began the day by awarding East Renfrewshire’s first plaque to Busby Primary School, before moving on to visit four Glasgow schools: St Fillan’s Primary, Cardinal Winning Secondary, St Joachim’s Primary and Eastmuir Primary. Cllr Archie Graham of Glasgow City Council joined Clyde to present the plaques to four of the schools and Holly also visited Lourdes Secondary and Shawlands Academy to present their plaques. It’s been an exciting and hectic day!

All seven schools are to be congratulated on the way they have used the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games as a context for learning, and in such different ways.

Culture 2014, Glasgow 2014

Culture 2014: Join the party!

January 30, 2014 User deactivated Leave a comment

The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games features 17 sport across 11 days of competition, but it’s a whole lot more than that: it’ll also coincide with one of the largest cultural programmes ever seen in Scotland.

Game On Scotland already features some of the largest projects, such as Big Big Sing and Get Scotland Dancing, but today a further 42 projects were announced as part of the programme and there’s a great mix of activity which will appeal to all ages. The new announcements include more than 800 children from across Scotland taking part in two family classical music concerts, films inspired by true stories of journeys of Shetlanders on ships made on the Clyde, and new light being shed on some of Glasgow’s forgotten architectural gems.

The newly announced projects join an unprecedented nationwide programme of activity featuring new work created by world-leading and emerging Scottish and international artists in response to the country’s hosting of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and our relationship with the Commonwealth.

Aiming to enhance the Games experience for Scotland’s communities, spectators and visitors as well as presenting the best of Scotland’s culture alongside that of the Commonwealth, the Cultural Programme includes almost 200 projects and exhibitions and over 800 events involving thousands of artists, performers and participants, across hundreds of locations and venues the length and breadth of Scotland.

Covering theatre, dance, music, visual arts, comedy and digital media; small scale indoor shows and outdoor spectaculars; work on bicycles and by rivers; in theatres, community centres, botanic gardens, art galleries, cinemas, public spaces and much more, audiences can expect everything from the intimate to the epic, the intense and life-affirming. Stories will be told of individual lives and communities, special places and moments in time.

Some relevant highlights of the programme are noted below, but you can find information on all projects (and search listings where dates are confirmed) at www.glasgow2014.com/culture.

Programme Highlights:

The Spokesman
Performed in parks across Scotland, this outdoor theatre production by Visible Fictions has the cast and audience travelling through the story on bikes.

Blue Block Studio
The Blue Block Studio pop-up space provides creative play for babies under 24 months and their adults, plus a storytelling performance for 2–4 year olds.

Glasgow Girls
Based on a true story, this National Theatre of Scotland production is a lively musical play, following a group of seven teenage girls who unite to campaign for their asylum seeker friend, when she and her family face the threat of deportation.

Scale
Scottish Dance Theatre is bringing the city of Dundee to life with projections of giant toddlers, a pop-up park, and other groundbreaking collaborations between internationally renowned artists. Every type of public space will become a playful site of city-wide dance.

Aye Write
The Aye Write! programme comprises a wide range of ticketed author events for adults and children, but also extends to a schools festival, and a variety of free community and family events.

Clyde, Game On Challenge, plaque

Kirkton of Largo and Glamis awarded plaques

January 29, 2014 User deactivated 1 Comment

On day three of his Game On Scotland tour, Clyde was out and about visiting schools in Fife and Tayside and two of the schools visited were also awarded Game On Scotland plaques. Kirkton of Largo Primary School is the first Fife school to receive a plaque for their outstanding Games-related work, with Glamis Primary taking the honours for Angus. Congratulations to both!

The Queen’s Baton Relay has been a major focus for Kirkton of Largo, with pupils tracking the progress of the baton around the 70 nations and territories of the Commonwealth and posting updates on Twitter. These updates led to Vision Africa, a charitable organisation, offering to take the pupils’ baton to Kenya, where it featured in the real Queen’s Baton Relay alongside famous Kenyan athlete Kipchoge Keino. The school has also been engaged in researching the countries of the Commonwealth, has signed up to the Digital Commonwealth project and even featured Clyde in their nativity! You can follow the school’s updates on Twitter at @KirktonPS, including lots of photos of Clyde’s visit.

Glamis Primary pupils have been set 30 Commonwealth Games challenges, linked to sports but extending out across the curriculum. From boxing to lawn bowls, they’ve been working on peer-led projects and even involved families and the local community. In the words of one teacher, their work has spread “Commonwealth Fever” throughout the school. The school will be continuing its work right up to the end of session, with more pupils set to be involved as their activities build to a climax.

Clyde, Game On Challenge, plaque

North East schools Airyhall and Meiklemill receive plaques

January 28, 2014 User deactivated Leave a comment

On the north east leg of his latest Game On Scotland tour, Glasgow 2014 mascot Clyde was pleased to recognise the efforts of another two primary schools: Airyhall School in Aberdeen City and Meiklemill School in Aberdeenshire. Both schools became the first in their local authorities to have their achievements recognised in this way.

Pupils from nursery through to P7 at Airyhall have been getting active, with taster sessions in rugby, football and even Zumba! They’ve also nominated their own batonbearers for a school network Commonwealth Games and designed doors for each class, reflecting traditions and customs from different nations and territories of the Commonwealth. The school has been counting down to the Games with lots of other exciting activities and has been tracking the progress of the Queen’s Baton Relay, ahead of their own version across their school network.

Meiklemill School has been nothing if not ambitious, engaging in a huge amount of activity related to the Games. Like Airyhall School, there’s simply too much to mention! Highlights include active challenges as part of the school’s Health Week, including 2014 skips, a 2014m collective walk and a simulated bike ride from Ellon to Glasgow. As well as learning about the Commonwealth and work on the Queen’s Baton Relay, they’ve also made great use of Clyde as inspiration in the school, so were no doubt delighted to welcome him in person.

Both schools deserve congratulations for what they’ve achieved and, excitingly, they’ve outlined lots more activity still to come before the end of session.

Clyde, Game On Challenge, plaque

Two more schools receive plaques: Gargieston Primary and Fisherton Primary

January 27, 2014 User deactivated Leave a comment

Glasgow 2014 mascot Clyde was out and about today visiting primary schools in Ayrshire and made time to present the latest Game On Scotland plaques to two more schools. Gargieston Primary School in Kilmarnock became the first East Ayrshire school to be recognised, with Fisherton Primary School in Dunure the first South Ayrshire school to get their plaque.

Both schools have been using the Games as a context for learning across the school and have well-developed plans for even more work in the terms ahead. Congratulations are due to both schools for all their hard work!

Clyde, Educational resources, Game On Challenge, Glasgow 2014, Glow Meet, Holly Cram, Legacy 2014, Queen's Baton Relay

Game On Scotland: 2013 in review

December 20, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

As we approach the final days before the year of the Games begins, it seems an appropriate time to provide an update on some of the achievements of Game On Scotland since its launch in May of this year. Over 1200 Scottish schools have already engaged with the programme in some way, along with numerous youth groups and organisations, and we’ve also engaged others from across the Commonwealth.

It’s certainly been busy and, of course, we expect it to get even busier in 2014, which is why we’re looking for some help. So before this year ends, let’s take a look back at some of 2013’s Game On Scotland facts and figures.

1st May 2013, Game On Scotland launch

It all started with a bang, as Shona Robison MSP, Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport, joined Cllr Archie Graham from Glasgow City Council and David Grevemberg, CEO of Glasgow 2014, at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. With a helping hand from Clyde and Hillhead Primary School pupils, the Game On Scotland programme went live, with a particular focus on the Athletes’ Village Art Competition. This flagship competition still has a few places remaining for schools yet to sign up – register with us and your pupils’ artwork will appear in the bedrooms of the 6500 athletes and officials coming to Glasgow next year. Hurry though, the deadline for registration is 17th January (deadline for submission of artwork is 28th February).

Game On Challenge

279 schools and organisations have now told us about their Glasgow 2014 learning plans, by submitting their Game On Challenge. Although the majority come from Scotland, we now have 11 Commonwealth nations and territories represented, including St Helena, Ascension and Tristan Da Cunha, one of the smallest territories in the Commonwealth.

We’ve also begun awarding Game On Scotland plaques to schools who are successfully demonstrating just how exciting the Games can be as a context for learning. Congratulations again to Crown Primary School in Inverness and to Comely Park Primary School in Falkirk for their achievements. Your school could be next, simply by telling us how you’ll be learning using the Games in a Game On Challenge entry.

Game On Scotland Ambassador

Just this month we were delighted to announce Scottish hockey star Holly Cram as the first Game On Scotland ambassador. As well as her athletic achievements, Holly is a qualified PE teacher and currently coaches at Dollar Academy. As we begin 2014, Holly will be taking part in Glow Meets, speaking at events and visiting schools to promote the Game On Scotland programme and the Games.

Learning Journeys

There are now 35 learning journeys available in the resources section of the site, covering all curricular areas and appropriate for all stages. These resources are designed to offer ideas to use with your class or group. To date, these resources have been downloaded over 20,000 times by teachers and educators – assuming that each resource is used with 20 learners, that could be 400,000 young people engaging with the Games!

Some of the most popular learning journeys so far have been:

CPD Events and Glow Meets

We’ve successfully delivered two national CPD events for teachers and educators, in Glasgow and Inverness, with at least one more to follow, likely to be in Dundee in February next year. Feedback has been outstanding, with 97% of delegates rating as either excellent or very good in terms of usefulness. Keep a look out for information on the next event, which will be released early in the new year.

We’re also midway through a programme of Glow Meets, with CPD events at the beginning of each month and events for learners at the end. We’ve linked each month to a curricular area and these events bring a particular focus to the Games as a context. Next up in the series is our “Maths/Numeracy and Game On Scotland” CPD session on 7th January.

Game On Scotland network

Although everything on the Game On Scotland site is freely available, we encourage teachers and educators to sign up to the network. As the programme is constantly evolving, with new information, resources and opportunities added on a regular basis, signing up ensures you can keep up! 3,500 have already joined our mailing list and receive the monthly updates we send, highlighting the latest content – join them by registering here.

Anything else?

Well we’ve also been helping Clyde to visit schools around the country, supporting engagement with the Queen’s Baton Relay and promoting all sorts of other education opportunities. It’s been a busy eight months, but there’s a lot more to come in the next eight as we set our sights on the largest multi-sport and cultural event ever to come to Scotland – if you haven’t already joined in the excitement, then sign up to play your part and get ready for Game On Scotland!

Clyde, Competition, Game On Challenge, Holly Cram, Legacy 2014

Holly Cram announced as Game On Ambassador

December 12, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

Hockey player Holly Cram to support education legacy for Commonwealth Games

Scotland International hockey player Holly Cram has been confirmed today as the first ambassador for Game on Scotland – the official education programme for Glasgow 2014. As Game on Scotland ambassador, Holly will be involved in engaging directly with pupils across Scotland, as a positive role model she will talk at and attend various events such as school assemblies, award ceremonies and prize-givings, as well as Games themed learning events.

Speaking at Comely Park Primary School, Falkirk, where pupils enjoyed a hockey taster session led by Holly, Commonwealth Games and Sport Minister Shona Robison said,

“We are working hard to ensure that we grasp the unique opportunity that the Commonwealth Games will present in 2014 to inspire children and young people. One clear legacy of the Games is the chance to encourage young people to be the best they can be and the Game on Scotland programme offers a broad range of resources, information and opportunities to assist in learning.

“I’m delighted that Holly will join the programme as Ambassador, her drive and commitment as an athlete, makes her a great role model to inspire pupils and teachers alike. As well as her outstanding sporting achievements, she can talk knowledgably and credibly about achievement and attainment to inspire our young people.”

Holly Cram is a Scottish International and Glasgow Western Hockey Player. She has amassed over 140 caps for Scotland and previously competed for Team Scotland in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Holly has recently completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Physical Education at Strathclyde University, recently qualified as at teacher and currently coaches at Dollar Academy. Speaking today, she said:

“Representing Team Scotland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games is one of the highlights of my hockey career and to compete again at a home Games in Glasgow is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m already seeing the effect and legacy impact the Games is having on my home city, as well as across the whole of Scotland, and the organisers have done an incredible job so far.

“I’m thrilled to be coming on board also as an Ambassador for Game on Scotland, to help spread learnings around the Games, and the impact they will have on our young people will be invaluable. Youngsters will be able to see first-hand how hard work and a little self-belief can make anyone successful.”

Alison Drever, Senior Education Officer at Education Scotland said,

“We are delighted to welcome Holly to the programme, especially today when we are awarding the second Game on Scotland plaque. The school has whole-heartedly embraced the Games to develop the understanding of what it means to be a global citizen, and is creating unique learning opportunities for their young people.”

Glasgow 2014 mascot Clyde joined in the fun, too, as Comely Park had won a recent competition to receive a visit from the cheeky thistle. The school was also presented with the second Game on Scotland plaque, for its far reaching plans to develop a whole school focus on global citizenship and health and wellbeing through engaging with the Commonwealth Games. Your school can also receive a plaque, by telling us about your exciting Games-related learning plans in the Game On Challenge.