Active Citizenship Award

Muirhead Community School, South Ayrshire

The Ayrshire Chernobyl Children's Lifeline was established in November 2000 to allow children affected by the disaster to receive vital medical and dental care.

Visiting Scotland for four weeks, breathing the fresh air and eating uncontaminated food, adds two years on to their lives.  The pupils at Muirhead Community School decided to make a permanent link between themselves and the Belarusian visitors.  Throughout the month of February every pupil has contributed to making the visit by the Belarusian children a trip to remember.  Every class undertook personal research into the geography, history and environmental impact the disaster had on Belarus and the people.  P4-P7 pupils were given the responsibility to arrange four full days of events, arranging all aspects of the days from collating information on specific places of interest to booking and paying for events.  The pupils also designed and produced bilingual welcome cards and placed them around the school.

This project by Muirhead Community School is not a one-off, but a long term global link, allowing all pupils to be actively involved in the development of mutual respect and responsibility on a worldwide scale.

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