Castletown pupils keep Olympic spirit alive
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The youngsters at the village school have taken matters into their own hands and are planning their very own torch relay.
All 139 pupils – from nursery to primary seven – will be involved in a 14-mile run from the school to John O’Groats, where pupils will be holding their own mini Olympics on Friday, June 22.
Instead of carrying a burning flame, pupils and parents are being challenged to design their own torch in a special competition.
Acting head teacher Shaun Henderson said everyone at the school is excited about a flame exchange which is happening at Groats on Sunday, June 10, and they want to mark the occasion.
“It was one of these ideas which just came from reading articles in the newspaper about the Olympic torch,” he said.
“After discussing it with the staff at the school, it proved to be a very popular idea and we wanted to come up with a way that the whole school could be involved.
“The design competition is a way of encouraging the pupils to use their imaginations and come up with a unique Castletown version of the Olympic torch.
“We will hold an open day after the Easter holidays where the public can come and see all the torches before deciding on the winning design which we will run with to John O’Groats.”
The relay will begin at the school when nursery and young primary pupils will pass the torch around the playground.
Middle pupils will then pass the torch to one another to the outskirts of the village before senior pupils carry it a mile each to John O’Groats.
During the relay pupils will be escorted by police after Northern Constabulary offered to support the event.
Teacher Kevin Cormack will also accompany the pupils as he plans to run the full 14 miles with the help of a supporting minibus.
All the pupils will then be transported to John O’Groats where they will cheer the final runner home before starting their mini Olympics.
Schools at Bower, Crossroads and Canisbay will also be taking part in the mini Olympics and Mr Henderson hopes pupils from these schools will be willing to take part in the relay too.
“We’ve got a lot of keen cross-country runners at the school and they have said that they are very excited about taking part,” he said.
“Everyone is really getting into the Olympic spirit and hopefully it will be a great event.”
The school has invited Landward Caithness councillor Willie Mackay to start the relay – he told the John O’Groat Journal he would be delighted to attend.
He commented: “Castletown is a very forward-thinking school which encourages its pupils to take part in a wide range of activities.
“I have been involved with events in the school in the past and would be delighted to officially open the relay.”
