Biddenham International School and Westfield Middle School, both Specialist Sports Colleges in Bedford, have been awarded a grant of £5800 to support other schools in their area to also get involved in London 2012 and make the most of opportunities available through the official London 2012 education programme ‘Get Set’.
Schools across England that are engaged with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games were invited to apply for a grant of up to £8,800. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) have worked closely with the Department for Education, who are funding the scheme, called ‘Plan your 2012’. ‘Plan your 2012’ offers schools that join the London 2012 ‘Get Set network’ reward and recognition scheme the chance to share their passion for the Games, inspiring and engaging other schools, young people and building partnerships across their community.
Biddenham and Westfield are members of the Get Set network and their bid was one of the 125 grants awarded, selected from over 600 schools who applied.
The aim of the bid was to bring a flavour of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to Bedford Borough school children. The bid includes a ‘Get Set Goes Global’ festival day for lower schools across Bedford Town, which will have an ‘African’ theme, linking in with the partnership school Biddenham and Westfield work with in Beaufort West, South Africa. There will be activities on offer to students across Bedford Town Upper Schools in sports journalism, sports photography and sport statistics. These activities will link in with the ‘Legacy’ events in Volleyball and Handball which will be on offer to both middle and upper school students across Bedford Town. The concluding event will include a disability festival and athletics event, including all students from across Bedford Town, with an aim of reducing barriers to participation for all.
LOCOG Chair, Seb Coe said: ‘We are delighted to be working even more closely with DfE, and the ‘Plan your 2012’ programme of grants will mean that more schools and more young people can be inspired by and benefit from local leadership and best practice in their area.
‘Members of the Get Set network, like Biddenham and Westfield, are brilliant advocates for London 2012 - demonstrating what a positive difference linking learning to the Games can make to young people.
‘Participating in 'Plan your 2012’ gives engaged schools a fantastic opportunity to take the lead in supporting other schools and their local community, enabling them to make the most of London 2012.’
Children’s Minister, Tim Loughton said: ‘Sport can bring out the best in everyone and the London 2012 Games is a great opportunity for us to inspire a generation of young people. Through funding for Get Set we are helping schools spread the Olympic and Paralympic values across their local communities, as well as providing more opportunities for competitive sport.
‘It’s really encouraging to see so many schools keen to take part - from a primary setting up a local league for Olympic sports to a secondary school arranging a Cultural Olympiad. With Get Set and Plan your 2012 we are giving schools the chance to create their own legacy that will last far beyond 2012.’
Schools can find out more about the scheme and how to apply on the London 2012 ‘Get Set’ website www.london2012.com/getset. The second round of applications opens on 28 November and close on 6 January 2012.
Schools that join the ‘Get Set’ network before Friday 16 December 2011 will also secure an allocation of tickets to the Games at no cost through the London 2012 Ticketshare initiative, as well as other exclusive rewards and opportunities.
Get Set is the official London 2012 education programme for schools and colleges across the UK. More than 20,500 schools have already registered with the programme. It provides students and teachers with access to free resources including films, activity and fact sheets to support young people to explore the Olympic and Paralympic Values and play their part in the London 2012 Games.
Over 9,000 have gone one step further to join the Get Set network reward and recognition scheme by demonstrating their commitment to living the Olympic and Paralympic Values.
Press release originally published 28/11/2011.
