CAM'S GOLDEN HANDSHAKE
The Coalition Has Guaranteed Olympic Funding To 2016 - But What About In Schools?
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Day three at the Paralympics and our line-up had it all. From folky loveliness to balls-out grooves the crowds at the Emerging Icons stage were sure to be entertained.
At the Paralympics dreams will be made, feats of extraordinary athletes will amaze and records will be broken. Whilst these Games shape up to be the biggest and most impressive of it's kind the world has ever seen, we can't help but feel chuffed to bits to be part of it. The artists we brought down today all boast so much talent we were proud to showcase them to the world.
And while we are more open to purchasing electronic products that are China- made, many of us are still resistant to paying top dollars for a designer bag or a dress that's manufactured there (as opposed to home countries of these fashion houses). Admit it, there is hesitation. So, why the prejudice?
Earlier this year, amid warnings of travel chaos during the London 2012 Olympics from Transport for London, we made the decision to shut down the office for the Olympic fortnight and to set up the organisation so everyone could easily work from home.
Emerging Icons at The Paralympics- Day One: Robyn Sherwell, Liz Lawrence, Alice Amelia and Tom Tyler
The temperature may have dropped for the Paralympics, but the mood certainly hasn't. The whole Emerging Icons team are absolutely delighted to be back amid the buzz of London 2012, with a whole new audience set to experience some fantastic music courtesy of our incredible artists.
To those who rightly identify Mathematics as a critically important focal point for schools' improvement, I urge you to consider not just how we broaden the level of understanding in our schools, but how we stretch and challenge the very best, by doing so in an environment where excellence seeps through every pore of expectation.
In the first Olympic Games in the modern era (1892) there were no female competitors and it has taken until 2012 for the historic moment to arrive when every nation competing in the Olympic Games have fielded female athletes (44% of all athletes).
The world is once again holding its breath to see what London will offer during the Paralympics, in its iconic Olympic Park in Stratford where the majority of the successful Olympic events took place just a couple of weeks ago. With over four thousand Paralympians from 166 countries this is going to be the second biggest show on earth.
The London 2012 Paralympics will be a fantastic celebration, not just of sport, but of disabled people themselves. This should be a transformational moment for disabled people in this country but the hard work will need to continue long after the event... Our vision is that disabled people are active for life. To achieve this, one of our goals will be supporting more disabled people in different ways to realise the benefits of being active. This support should be available at whatever level they choose as only a small minority can take part in or reach Paralympic level.
Following such a successful Olympic Games in London, the Paralympics will now place disability on a global podium. But how will the various disability issues rank at these games and which medals should be awarded to them?
We are looking at the Paralympics as a harder task. A bigger battle. A fight to win respect, unification and Gold. The Olympics truly were just a warm up.
As a showbiz journalist one of the things that bored me senseless about the Games was the countless number of stuffy old curmudgeons praying it would finally wipe clean the smear on British culture - the dreaded obsession with celebrity.
Like a pint of newly poured Guinness, the media froth coming off the Games has taken a long time to settle. Can the Paralympics do for physical disability what the Olympics may have done, at least temporarily, for perceptions of immigrants and people of other faiths?
I am a decent tennis player, an OK squash player and reasonably handy on a badminton court. But it's ping-pong that's really my sport. When my parents divorced I was bought a ping-pong table, which I practised on endlessly, Forrest Gump-style, alone.
So just as Danny Boyle gave us a very personal gift with the Opening Ceremony, the memory of which will last a lifetime, I'd like to give him a personal gift in a similar vein from all of us. A book containing photographs of each person's interpretation of what makes this isle wondrous to them.
I cannot think of any of the Olympic sports that GB excelled in this summer, nor for that matter any other sport, which can rival football in terms of social inclusiveness.
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