- June 30th, 2010
Olympic mascots in Midlothian
- nickmorgan
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When the London 2012 Mascots were launched on 19 May 2010, a competition was announced for schools to win a visit from either Wenlock (the Olympic mascot) or Mandeville (the Paralympic mascot). Lasswade High School in Midlothian was the Scottish winner and on 29th June received a visit from Mandeville.
S1 pupils together with P7 pupils from Lasswade’s associate primaries came together to take part in an assembly about the Olympic and Paralympic Values. Former pupil Sean Fraser, who won a swimming bronze medal in the Beijing Paralympics, gave an inspiring talk about his experience of the 2008 Games. Then, after hearing the story of Wenlock and Mandeville, the pupils were surprised and delighted when Mandeville entered the hall. The assembly finished with a display of Judo skills to demonstrate the Olympic value of respect and the presentation of certificates to pupils who have recently demonstrated the Olympic values in their learning.
George Falconer, Principal Teacher of Physical Education, described the school’s approach to using the London Olympics as a context for learning. “We have used some Olympic sports as an avenue for delivering the values of respect, friendship and excellence. We encourage pupils to think about the values not just in terms of sport but how they might apply them to school and home life. If they can be inspired to do their absolute best in all sports and find something they excel at, they can then transfer this to their academic life.”
Lasswade is a member of the London 2012 Get Set Network and is participating in ‘International Inspiration’, a project which links them with a school in South Africa. All schools in the UK are encouraged to join the Get Set Network and use the activities, ideas and free resources available including interactive games and inspirational videos.
Learning and Teaching Scotland is promoting Scottish school engagement with the London Olympics, which some schools are using already as a context for learning about global citizenship and other curricular areas.
Categories citizenship, international
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