OLYMPICS wn to London 2012 The sports leaders have selected several Paralympic


sports (including boccia, sitting volleyball and goalball) and will adapt the festival sessions to meet the needs of all disabilities. Not only that, they are busy organising opening and closing ceremonies, with each school taking part being allocated a Paralympic country and given flags to carry to all the events they compete in. “The festival is all about integration and


participation,” explained teacher Anne-Marie Riddle, who is helping to organise the event. “There are no winners and losers. We build in the Olympic and Paralympic values throughout the event and at the end of the festival everyone goes away with a personalised participation certificate.” To add to the 2012 buzz, 12 Richard Hale students


have also been selected to be young games-makers at the Paralympic Games, a role that will include responsibilities such as escorting athletes to and from events and carrying their kit. One of the earliest schools to join the Get Set


programme was Biddenham International School and Sports College in Bedford. Keen to engage with the Games, the 13 to 19 school, which has around 1,100 year 9 to 13 pupils on its roll, has used Get Set as a stimulus to develop a series of projects – from inviting athletes to assemblies and lessons to incorporating the Olympic and Paralympic values into the school’s pastoral and rewards system. Together with youngsters from other local schools,


students have also had the chance to attend a series of Olympic-related cross-curricular workshops in mathematics, photography and art. The mathematics workshop aimed to help year 9


pupils see how maths skills can be used in sport. After attending a session on statistics the youngsters applied what they had learned at a football tournament, collecting data on aspects such as which players passed the ball most. During the photography sessions, year 9 and 10


students learned how to take the best sports pictures while three art workshops for year 7s and 8s focused on creating the flags of the Olympic and Paralympic nations. Schools in the Bedford area are also planning a Get


Set Goes Global day on May 4, an afternoon of sport where lower school pupils will each be given a reward card and will collect stickers for demonstrating the Olympic and Paralympic values. “The pupils are getting very excited about the activities they are planning,” said Kelly Rolfe,


How your school can get involved:


• For a range of resources, ideas and opportunities to help your school make the most of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, go to the Get Set website, at www.london2012.com/getset


• Schools can download online resources about World Sport Day and request free World Sport Day celebration packs from www.london2012.com/worldsportday


• To find out more about the torch-bearers and where and when they will be in your area, visit www.london2012.com/welcometheflame (these resources and teachers’ planning guides include practical and fun ideas on how to organise celebrations for the day the Olympic Torch Relay passes through your community).


• British Council Schools Online also has a dedicated Warm Up for the Games site, featuring Olympic- related resources, projects, templates and competitions for schools. To find out more, go to www.britishcouncil.org/schoolsonline-2012


Can’t speak, can’t learn what’s the impact of non-native speakers in schools?


As experts in assessment we believe it is our duty to provide a forum to debate key educational issues. Our next programme focuses on EAL (English as an additional language).


The number of schoolchildren who do not speak English as their fi rst language is increasing each year. It is hard to spot a ‘gifted and talented’ pupil if they are held back by language challenges.


How can education respond to the increase in EAL to ensure every child can access the whole curriculum?


Join the conversation


To contribute to our debate in May, or explore our other programmes, visit www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk


st to see the Olympic Torch design (top left); pupils from Roundwood Park School celebrate ward (top right); Get Set students prepare to welcome the Olympic Flame to their community


SecEd • April 19 2012 9


partnership development manager for Bedford and Kempton School Sport Partnership. “There is a chance for everyone to get involved, regardless of whether they are keen on playing sport or not.” Schools involved in the Get Set programme have


also had the chance to be selected as the Get Set Network school of the month – by blogging on the activities their students are involved in. Winning schools receive a letter of congratulations from Seb Coe, chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and a surprise visit from a London 2012 representative. The most recent winner was Roundwood Park


School in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, where the school council has come up with a variety of activities to create a lasting Olympic legacy. Their school house system is based on the seven Olympic and Paralympic values, for instance, and they hold Olympic-themed house events. Students have also learned about the Games in


a host of other subjects, including drug testing in science, designing mascots and Olympic-inspired Easter eggs in art, writing Olympic poems in English and designing Olympic clothing in ICT. Another group of children who cannot wait for


the countdown to the Olympics to begin are the 212 proud 12-year-olds who have been chosen to be torch-bearers. They are among a total of 8,000 torch- bearers who will carry the Olympic flame, a symbol representing peace, unity and friendship, through more than 1,000 towns and cities across the UK between May 19 and July 27. They are not the only young people who will get


the opportunity to run with the Olympic flame either. Twenty youngsters from London 2012’s International Inspiration programme, a joint British Council, UNICEF and UK Sport project designed to enrich the lives of more than 12 million children in 20 countries through high-quality and inclusive physical education, sport and play, will be carrying the flame in Nottinghamshire on June 28.


SecEd • Emma Lee Potter is a freelance education journalist. Tweets of the week


Twitter came into its own as the three major teaching unions met for their annual conferences over Easter.


“Cowardly Gove hasn’t the backbone to come to


NASUWT.” @cllrjulie4gs


“Pensions being stolen, workload going up, pay going down. I am not bitter, I am better because history


shows we will win.” @VictorAguera1


“Am I the only teacher whose heart sinks every Easter as out of touch unions generate yet more


sensational headlines?” @lptomg


“Teaching is about getting the best from every learner in every lesson. It isn’t about


performing for observers.” @NUTonline Follow us at @SecEd_Education


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