Latest news with #Earlston
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Birkmyre bring home Helensburgh rugby sevens crown for second year in a row
BIRKMYRE Rugby Club retained their Helensburgh Sevens title in style on Saturday, going through their group and knockout matches undefeated to lift the trophy for the second year in a row. In the opening match they found themselves up against the host club, but showed no mercy in front of a big home crowd by dishing out a 50-5 thrashing. After a break, next up for the Bears was a youthful Glasgow Caledonian University team who had also won their first match by a thumping margin, 59-5. (Image: Contributed) It looked like being a close contest, but three early scores put the Kilmacolm men in control, and though Caley came back into it in the second half, Birkmyre were too strong and finished up 24-5 winners. The quarter-final saw Birkmyre drawn against a 'rugby legends' side made up of Helensburgh old boys, and in the battle of youth against experience, the Myre's young legs proved too quick and fit for their rivals, with the Bears casting aside their opponents by a 40-5 margin. (Image: Contributed) The semi-final pitched Birkmyre against the 'Pink Fairy Armadillos', most of them students at Heriot Watt University, and for the first time in the competition the Kilmacolm side were put on the back foot after conceding straight from the kick-off. READ MORE: Birkmyre round off league campaign with home win over Lomond-Helensburgh But Birkmyre bounced back and pulled the score back within a minute of the restart, and in an entertaining clash, with plenty of good skills on display, the youthful Kilmacolm team once again proved too strong and emerged winners with a final score of 29-12. (Image: Contributed) A long day saw the final kick off at 5.50pm, with Birkmyre facing an Earlston side who had travelled all the way from Berwickshire for the competition. The final was highly competitive, and got a little heated at times, with one of the Earlston players receiving a yellow card for hitting a jumper in the air - on another day, it could easily have been a red, with Birkmyre's Callum Moglia landing dangerously close to his neck. Birkmyre took the lead, but Earlston replied with a try of their own, and the final continued in a similar vein, with Birkmyre always having their noses just in front. (Image: Contributed) Birkmyre retained their Helensburgh title with victory over Earlston in the final. (Image: Contributed) With very little time on the clock, Birkmyre led by five points, with Earlston knowing a converted try would seal the victory; however, as the clock went red, the Bears' opponents were penalised for a high tackle on Finlay Reynar, which again could have easily seen a yellow. No card was brandished, but David Cruickshank tapped the resulting penalty, before launching the ball over the stand to ensure the win. Birkmyre will be in sevens action again this Saturday, May 17, when they travel to West of Scotland Rugby Club where they will take on Lenzie, Allan Glens and Strathclyde University in the group stages.
Daily Mail
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Now judges rule ALL schools in Scotland must provide single sex toilets
A judge has ordered all Scottish state schools to provide single-sex toilets after parents won a landmark legal fight against gender-neutral lavatories. Bosses at Scottish Borders Council (SBC) admitted they had been wrong not to install sex-segregated bathrooms at the new Earlston Primary School, in Berwickshire. The case follows a Supreme Court ruling last week which said biological sex - not gender choices - is decisive in defining a woman. A leading lawyer warned last night that SBC's decision will have major implications for other schools across Scotland which have gender-neutral facilities. Scottish Tory equalities spokesman Tess White said: 'This case highlights the SNP government's failure to provide adequate guidance to Scotland's public sector over single-sex spaces. 'The Nationalists' gender self-ID policy has become embedded in our institutions and that has to change immediately, in light of the Supreme Court ruling that it is unlawful.' At the Court of Session in Edinburgh, Lady Ross KC said she would issue a 'declarator' - a court order – to make legal obligations on Scottish state schools clear after Sean Stratford and Leigh Hurley brought a judicial review over their concerns about transgender policies at Earlston, where their son Ethan, eight, was a pupil. They had complained about the lack of separate-sex facilities at the replacement school, which recently opened and cost taxpayers £16.6million, as well as trans inclusion policies around sports days, and potential punishment that their son would face if he 'misgendered' other pupils. Their concerns were dismissed by Kevin Wilson, the headteacher, and later SBC, which claimed it did not have to consult with parents about the lavatory policy. The parents went to court with the support of For Women Scotland (FWS), the campaign group which last week won the landmark Supreme Court ruling declaring that for the purposes of UK equalities law, biological men could not become legally female. In court yesterday, Ruth Crawford KC, representing the council, accepted the terms of the declarator making clear that the bathroom policy had been unlawful. Ms Hurley, 39, who still works at Earlston Primary as a pupil support worker, first raised concerns in November 2023 about the school supporting the 'social transition' of another pupil, which included allowing them to participate in sports day races in the category of their gender identity. She told The Times she later discovered that her son would face punishment if he 'misgendered' trans pupils and that the new-build school was planning to have no separate-sex lavatories. Ms Hurley, of Earlston, said: 'We just want all children to be safeguarded. 'We have great empathy for any child, but we just wanted our rights respected at the same time, and that wasn't happening. 'In the end we felt we had no choice but to pull our child out of the school, which left him devastated.' Mr Stratford, a 42-year-old firefighter, claimed that when he complained the headteacher criticised his parenting methods, questioning how he was preparing his son for 'the diverse world we live in'. The couple had particular concerns about their daughter Ivie, three, who would be starting at a school where she would have to share communal lavatories with boys. Mr Stratford said: 'You're talking about children who still believe in Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy.' According to FWS, schools across Scotland have installed gender-neutral lavatories despite regulations passed in 1967 mandating that separate-sex facilities must be provided, including urinals for boys. Its research suggests five per cent of secondary schools provide mixed-sex toilets only, while 16 per cent of secondary schools provide a combination of single-sex and mixed-sex toilets. Controversial Scottish government guidance for schools issued in 2021 states it is a 'social convention' that people use lavatories in line with their biological sex. After the hearing, Rosie Walker, head of litigation at Gilson Gray, representing the parents in the SBC row, said the council had 'thrown in the towel' - and the ruling would have 'far-reaching implications' for other councils. She said: 'While the Supreme Court ruling did not affect the law in this case, it has brought focus on to the fact that single-sex spaces have to be respected. 'It has changed the climate and the debate about these issues. 'This is undoubtedly the first of many cases, following the Supreme Court ruling, in which we will see the rights of women and girls upheld by the courts.' As well as the declarator on single-sex spaces in schools, the council will now have to reconsider the other aspects of wider complaints made by the parents and issue a new response within 20 days. An SBC spokesman said: 'Prior to the hearing, SBC had accepted and acknowledged the decision that was being sought was correct and therefore did not seek to defend this in court. 'Moving forward, SBC will revisit and reconsider the complaint and respond in due course.' A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'Ministers are aware of reports of a ruling in the Court of Session case involving Scottish Borders Council in relation to Earlston school. 'We will carefully consider the implications of that ruling.'
