Redwood playing their part in 2012’s International Legacy

Mr Pidgeon and Mr Butterworth spent the week visiting an Egyptian Secondary School called El Saddatt Preparatory School in 2012

Redwood Secondary School is playing host to their partner school from Egypt and have just returned from a visit to Egypt as part of International Inspiration, London 2012’s official international sports legacy programme.

This week the Headteacher Mrs Nadia Mohsen Mohammed Amin Zahra and PE department leader Mr Ahmed Mohamed Hassan from El Zaeem El Saddat School in Alexandria are spending time working with staff and students at Redwood Secondary School to further establish the links between the two schools.

Mr Stuart Pidgeon Headteacher at Redwood stated: “This week is an exciting event for all connected with Redwood Secondary School and follows on from the visit to Alexandria which myself and PE teacher David Butterworth made in November 2012. Our ‘Egypt Day’ in December really produced some fantastic and original work in preparation for this week’s visit.”

Although primarily focused on developing PE and sports activities as part of the 2012 legacy, both schools will celebrate each others cultural development, run a whole school sports day simultaneously in the summer of 2013 and introduce new and exciting sports to engage young people of Redwood and Alexandria.

Weekly communication via Redwood radio, the school website and Facebook will give pupils and staff from each school the opportunity to implement the 3 year International Inspiration programme.

International Inspiration has enriched the lives of more than 12 million children in 20 countries and encourages schoolchildren, teachers and coaches in the UK to learn about other cultures and exchange knowledge and experiences with peers in International Inspiration countries. The programme is delivered around the world by a unique partnership of organisations including the British Council, UNICEF and UK Sport.

School partnerships are at the heart of International Inspiration, providing an opportunity for teachers, children and young people to develop and share innovative approaches to PE, sport and play in the classroom and their local community as well as learn about and understand each other’s cultures, experiences and international development issues. Redwood Secondary School is one nearly 300 schools in the UK currently linked to a school overseas through International Inspiration. The school partnerships are managed by the British Council.

Seb Coe Chair of London 2012 said: “Our vision is to use the power of the Games to inspire change – and changing lives is the driving force behind our plans. We took a very clear promise to Singapore – to encourage the youth of the world to choose sport – and Redwood Secondary School’s involvement is another key step towards delivering that promise. Sport can be a great force for good, and the International Inspiration programme will play a real role in improving the lives of young people around the world through sport.”