INSPIRED by the London 2012 Olympics, more than 200 students from France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Romania took part in a parade through Abergele to kick off the first ever North Wales School’s Games.
The two week event, organised by Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan, will bring sport and education together, with the visiting students taking in English lessons as well as tackling their Welsh peers in five sporting events.
The project, which has taken three years to plan, has been organised by Emrys’ own Olympic hero Andrew Goodwin, who also carried the Olympic flame through Abergele on the recent torch relay.
11-14 co-ordinator Andrew said the school’s links with Conlan school, which caters for large groups of foreign students in Abergele, had helped bring more than 100 competitors from across Europe to the games, continuing an extensive programme of events leading up to the start of the Games.
He said: “This year we have already had a visit from Olympic Medallist Jamie Baulch, and had over 700 pupils taking part in the sports relief mile as part of our ‘Get Active’ initiative.
It is very exciting, I just hope that pupils don’t miss any opportunity to get involved, as most of us will never see the Olympics in this country again.“
“The North Wales School Games gives pupils a chance to experience a multinational competition for themselves whist also having the opportunity to make new friends and gain an insight into cultuers that may be different to their own.”