GOING FOR GOLD
LONDON 2012
Get Set
[Link]
This is the official Olympic website for London 2012.
There is a wide range of information about the Olympics as well as a section of education
resources from ages 3 -18.
You can join the Get Set network which is a community of schools and colleges
committed to the Olympic and Paralympic values of respect, friendship, equality,
excellence, inspiration, courage and determination.
Hertfordshire is Ready for winners
[Link]
This is the official website for Hertfordshire and its involvement in the Olympics.
It has information and updates on Olympic hopefuls from Hertfordshire, events at Lee
Valley (official water sports venue for 2012) and how you and your school can become
involved in events such as the cultural Olympiad such as Love to a national initiative
to encourage more people in Herts to get involved in cultural events on their doorstep.
You can sign up for an e-newsletter in order to get updates and information.
So far 170 Hertfordshire schools have signed up on the official Olympic website Get Set.
You can check here which schools (your own?) have signed up to the Get Set Network
and what level of involvement they have taken.
Even if you dont want to sign up, you can download leaflets, posters and flyers which
may be useful for lessons.
2012 Mascots Wenlock and Mandeville
[Link]
%2Bmascots%2Bunveiled/[Link] - interview with Lord Coe about mascots
[Link] - new mascot film
[Link] - create your own mascot
Winning Words
[Link]
Winning Words is a public art project to create new encounters with poetry during the London
2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. They want to enable everyone to experience poetry in
exciting ways and to create a legacy of inspiring words for the nation to enjoy.
Winning Words will comprise of both permanent and temporary poems throughout the Park, and
these will be made up of site-specific poems commissioned from local poets to respond directly to
the site, as well as poems suggested by the public and chosen by a panel. Lemn Sissays poem
Spark Catchers, the lead poem of a series of three, was the first of our site-specific poems
commissioned to reflect on the history of the site, and the poem on the Athletes Wall will be the
first to be suggested by the public. A number of other sites and poets are to be announced in due
course.
Winning Words invites you to suggest poetry that will inspire the worlds greatest athletes, and the
local communities who will use the Village in years to come. The poetry must represent some of
the values of the Olympic Games: respect, fair play, excellence, friendship and of the Paralympic
Games: courage, determination, inspiration and equality.
The poetry selected from the nominations will be engraved on a prominent wall in the centre of
the Athletes Village. During the 2012 Games the poetry will be seen on a daily basis by the
athletes, trainers and officials living and working in the Village. After the London 2012 Games, the
Village will be converted into new homes for east London. The poem should aim to consider the
legacy of the site, including the 2,818 new homes it will provide and the new state of the art
Academy for 1,800 students.
If your nomination is not chosen for the Athletes Wall, there is a chance that it may be installed in
other locations in the Olympic Park, which will be decided later in 2011.
Tennysons words To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield (Ulysses) have already
been chosen by Carol Ann Duffy and a panel of judges to be the permanent installation in
the park. However, you are still able to nominate other poems for temporary installations
and these are announced later in the year.
If you dont want to take part in this competition you could use the idea of poetry as
inspiration and run your own school competition.
Look at the website for inspiration and nominations already made. They list a variety of
sites that could help people to choose a poem and if you look at some of the examples
people have been nominating song lyrics as well as more traditional poetry.
You could also use the first poem commissioned for the Olympics written by Lemn Sissay,
Spark Catchers. This has been inspired by the site being built on an old match factory
hence the name. Students could look at how place or history could be an inspiration or
have a linked meaning. (Poem not public yet, except the line, There is a
certain/Electricity between us/A spark).
Keep your eyes open as two more commissions will be announced later in the year.
Olympic Hopefuls
[Link]
In the original scheme there were examples of biographies for Olympic contenders. If you
go to the link above there is a list of 100 Olympic 2012 hopefuls and if you click on their
name you will be directed to a very detailed biography for each one including their
progress towards 2012, medals, etc.
You could use these as examples for students to create their own profiles of Olympic
hopefuls or get them to use the information in a different way such as an information
leaflet, or wall of fame, etc.
Look out for new editions as sportsmen and women build up to fitness or suffer from
injuries in the year ahead. You may want to focus on the final squads when these are
announced prior to the Games.
The Observer Magazine 1 year to go
[Link]
Cultural Olympics
[Link]
Olympic Wordle
