Windygoul Primary School in Tranent, East Lothian, has triumphed over hundreds of schools from across Scotland to win a superstar visit from X-Factor and Eurovision double-act Jedward.

 

Staff and pupils, along with the local community, have worked tirelessly over the last eight months to collect mobile phones for recycling campaign ‘Give Every Child a Voice’. 

 

The primary school is one of over 300 schools across Scotland who signed up to the campaign, which is run in partnership with NSPCC’s ChildLine service in Scotland and interactive learning technology company, Promethean, to raise vital funds to support children and young people in the country.

 

Schools were tasked to collect as many old and unwanted mobile phones as possible before Friday 13 May 2011 to be in with a chance of winning the special celebrity visit, as well as a set of Promethean’s hand-held learning devices for the school.

 

Jedward will arrive at Windygoul Primary School later this month to congratulate the pupils on their achievements and will act as guest judges at the school’s highly anticipated annual talent contest.

 

  

Ann Malcolm, Headteacher at Windygoul Primary School, said:

 

“Our pupils and staff are delighted to welcome Jedward to Windygoul!

 

“As a green-school, with a strong environmentally friendly ethos, the recycling campaign has been really important to us.”

 

Ian Curtis, Head of UK, Ireland and Northern Europe at Promethean, commented:

 

“We have been really impressed with how Scottish schools have supported this campaign with great enthusiasm. For every 250 mobile phones that each school collects, Promethean has agreed to donate £500 to the ChildLine service in Scotland, as well as provide the school with a hand-held ActivExpression Learner Response System which can empower students to participate in class discussions and tests. There’s still plenty of time for schools to help raise money for ChildLine and we would encourage schools that are participating in the campaign to visit the website for ideas to boost their mobile phone collection.”

 

ActivExpression is an innovative way for teachers and pupils to interact. The handheld devices allow every child in a class to respond to questions from teachers by texting their answers. Pupils are able to express their thoughts and feelings anonymously in class, without peer pressure or embarrassment, ensuring the teacher has real insight into the welfare of each child.

 

The campaign is making a significant contribution to the work of ChildLine in Scotland which has been providing confidential support to children and young people in need of advice for the past 20 years. Last year alone over 32,000 children were counselled by the service in Scotland on issues ranging from family relationships and bullying to abuse and loneliness. The service receives many more calls than can be answered and needs further funding to counsel more children.

 

Head of fundraising for the NSPCC in Scotland, Sally Cameron, said:

 

“As well as the strong recycling messages, this campaign has provided us with a unique way of raising awareness amongst children and young people that ChildLine is there for them whenever and wherever they need us.

 

“Every penny raised will help us to develop the ChildLine service in Scotland.  We are very grateful to have been chosen by Promethean to benefit from the campaign.”

 

For more information about Promethean, click here.