Baton Event

On Thursday October 10, all the primary 7s in our school Shawlands Primary went on a coach to the City Chambers in the centre of Glasgow.

We had been invited to hold flags on the day that the Queen’s Baton was going to travel to India, the country that previously hosted the Commonwealth Games. The day before that we had a rehearsal because this was such an important event.

During the coach ride, me and my partner Sanya were ecstatic. We couldn’t wait to see the Queen’s baton. Once we arrived at the glorious City Chambers, some TV crews were already setting up, such as STV and BBC. We all walked up the beautiful marble staircase and into a room with lots of flags in it. For a bit, we waited around but then we received our fabulous flags. My flag was Tanzania in Africa! The other school that was carrying the flags was Hillhead Primary. They had 35 of the 70 flags, like us.

After a few minutes we made our way down to the main entrance where each school made an extremely long line, so long in fact, that some people had to stand outside in the freezing cold. Then the Lord Provost carried the baton in with a few other important people and we all cheered loudly. Next she walked up the stairs, along the corridor and into the spectacular main hall. Everyone followed silently.

When we arrived in the main hall we were astounded. It was absolutely amazing! The ceiling was really high. There were magnificent chandeliers hanging down. The paintings on the wall were beautiful and the whole hall was bigger than 10 houses put together! There were loads of people in the hall eating and drinking. We lined up and then The Big Sing choir sang some great songs. Next some people made speeches and then the amazing St Bride’s primary school choir sang some songs.

Louise Martin spoke and told us that we could touch the baton! It was such a unique opportunity and I was very excited. So we touched the wonderful baton then we went back to a wee room, put our flags down and had a tasty snack.

Finally, we drove back to school on the coach. In the evening I watched reporting Scotland and for about three seconds I was on TV!!! It had been a truly extraordinary day and I was extremely happy because I knew I had been part in the Commonwealth games!