News

The Thanet Schools Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relay arrived at Dane Court in spectacular style on Monday 26 September.

Year seven students lined the route from the front gate to the main entrance of the school buildings, clapping and cheering as Drapers Mills Primary School Young Ambassadors came to hand over the torch to our school.

Video clips and music from London's successful bid for the Olympic Games were playing as the procession wound its way through the school and into the hall. Year eight students representing the five continents of Europe, Oceania, Africa, Asia and the Americas welcomed the guests in native languages before Dane Court's 2012 sports ambassadors Beth Smith and Zoe Woodward spoke about the olympic and paralympic values of personal excellence, respect & friendship, inspiration, determination & courage and equality, which together form the theme of the torch relay.

Dane Court's own world champion, 17 year-old Joann Rolison who won three individual gold medals at the World Karate & Kickboxing Association Championships in Karlsruhe in Germany in August, expressed those values from her own point of view as an international sportswoman. Joann said "Sport teaches us the values that can take us through life's journey. Not only do I hope I am a role model in my sport but I also hope, from my sporting experience, to be a role model in whatever direction I choose to take"

The torch relay, which started at Ursuline College in April, will move on to St George's School on Monday 3 October and will continue around the 32 remaining schools before the start of the 2012 Olympics.