ON the day that the excellent progress of the area’s two High Schools was reported to councillors, pupils took the stage to give ‘a take’ on what is going on at both Beath and Lochgelly. Cowdenbeath Area Committee was meeting at Beath on Wednesday and teams of pupils took the opportunity to explain to members some of the key elements of what has been achieved since the start of the session in August.

It has been an exciting time at Beath as the school has been reflecting on getting the much sought-after Scottish Sports Council Gold Award.

The Foulford Road school is the only Fife winner of the accolade and pupils explained to Area Committee chair, Linda Erskine, and her deputy, Rosemary Liewald, how the presentation was made to the Sports Council of the impressive package of sport available at Beath.

The councillors were told of how pupils compiled the entry which also included a section on how sports coverage at the school could improve. Also on the Beath agenda was the Shutter Art project, which has seen pupils’ success in playing their part on improving the look of Cowdenbeath High Street.

They also were told of the how two pupils toured the Beath cluster of primary schools with the message about the water safety, having been coached on this by the RNLI.

It had proved a very successful venture and having Beath pupils speaking to them was appreciated by the primary kids.

The councillors also heard how the Duke of Edinburgh Award was a very appreciated element available at the school.

The Lochgelly team talked about the LHS: Pupil Improvement Committee, which has become an active link between pupils of all ages and the school management.

It has increased the the pupil voice and already has had an impact on getting improvements to the school toilet provision and setting up a coffee bar provision.

LHS’s ten pupils and rector Carol Ann Penrose are currently preparing for the Polar Academy trip to the Arctic in April. The young people involved explained how they had been training exhaustively for the experience of a lifetime.

The councillors were impressed with the way the pupils of both schools presented what they have been involved in and Area Committee chair, Linda Erskine, said: “It really is excellent what the young people at both Beath and Lochgelly are involved in and the way they presented it to us was totally first class. They really are fantastic ambassadors for the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area.”