Kaimes School has won a prestigious award from sportscotland for its involvement in sport at the school. The Gold School Sport Award is designed to encourage schools to improve sports education and encourage sporting links with their communities.
Kaimes which has 100 autistic pupils is the only special school in Edinburgh to ever win the national sports award.
Kaimes School has won a Gold School Sport Award from @sportscotland and headteacher Ros Miller told us how happy she is about it pic.twitter.com/yvLIypd7TW
— Edinburgh Reporter (@EdinReporter) November 21, 2016
Headteacher, Ros Miller, said : “I’m thrilled that we’ve been awarded the Gold School sportscotland award. It is such a huge accolade for us to have here at the school.
“We’re getting it for our participation in sport and for our activities, for all the things that we do that bring colour to the curriculum. We have rugby, cricket, athletics, football, table tennis, our outdoor learning, our swimming programmes and skiing. We do so much for the children here in school and with our partners.
“We work with Edinburgh Leisure and Active Schools to really get our children involved and active in lots of different physical activities.
“School sport is vital here at Kaimes It brings developing skills for learning life and work, including social skills being able to realise that in a competitive game you might not win. Knowing that you may not always come first in a race or a competition. It is really a useful tool in promoting life skills.
“We are also really proud that we had the Paralympic torch here at Kaimes before the Rio Games this year.
“That brought home the real context, the Paralympic ethos and spirit of the games and really our torchbearers here were thrilled to have the real torch that was going on to Rio with the paralympic team. It made it real for our children so when they were watching the games they had a context to it and they knew what was going on more.
“We are going to get a flag from sportscotland to celebrate our goal award achievement
“Then we are going to have a special day to celebrate with a special assembly when we will invite special guests including our partners who help us create this brilliant PE and sport curriculum here at the school.”
Councillor Cammy Day, Education Convener, said: “Well done to everyone associated with Kaimes for being the first special school in Edinburgh to get the GOLD award from sportscotland.
“Keeping our young people fit and healthy is really important not just through their PE lessons but also in extra-curricular activities as well.
“Our Active Schools and the Sport & Outdoor Unit deliver hugely successful events for young people such as Games @ The Hub which saw 1,400 pupils take part in during the summer.”
Lothians MSP Miles Briggs was delighted to hear the news. Speaking today Miles said: “ I warmly congratulate the staff and pupils at Kaimes School on receiving this prestigious award and becoming one of only two special schools in Scotland to have received the Gold Award.
“ The school is to be commended for making health and wellbeing central to the ethos of the school and doing so much to encourage pupils to take part in sport.”
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