100th birthday of a Hawick legend is a class act

School pupils have learned what a class act Hawick-born sports commentator Bill McLaren was – on the day that would have marked his 100th birthday.

Scottish Borders Council’s Inspire Learning team delivered a live digital lesson to school pupils across the region earlier this month.

The event was presented by some of SBC’s Inspire Learning team from Trinity Primary School in Hawick, Bill’s former school, on Tuesday, October 17, via the digital platform School House.

Forty-five classes from all over the Borders took part, including many schools in Hawick plus primary schools in Galashiels, Kelso, Duns, Peebles and Morebattle. Over 1000 pupils watched the live lesson and completed interactive activities via the Showbie digital platform.

The event run in partnership with Live Borders, the Bill McLaren Foundation, Hawick RFC and Hawick Museum and was developed to educate young people on the life and legacy of Bill McLaren – ‘The Voice of Rugby’, marking the centenary of his birth.

The interactive session included photographs, videos and audio clips from Bill’s life and pupils completed activities using the maps app to find places connected to Bill’s life story.

Councillor Leagh Douglas, SBC’s executive member for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “The role of technology in education is really important, and having the opportunity to deliver live digital lessons through our Inspire Learning programme to hundreds of young people from a number of our schools at the same time is fantastic”.

The Bill McLaren Centenary Exhibition is also running at Hawick Museum from October 4 to November 27. Pupils that attended the live lesson will also have the opportunity to visit the exhibition with funding for transport being provided by the Bill McLaren Foundation.