STAFF and pupils at Queen Anne High School in Dunfermline held an activity-filled series of events on Monday to mark Peace One Day 2014 – a UN adopted day of global ceasefire and non-violence.

Presentations took place in a variety of formats for pupils from S1 through to S6, giving pupils the opportunity to reflect on conflict abroad and at home, and to consider the full meaning of peace. The evening event saw a programme of events from different areas of the school performed to a full house. From the drama department staging a bullying conflict, to the PE department performing a peace dance, pupils came together to deliver a variety of performances that dealt with questions of peace and conflict.

Depute rector Peter Billington felt the event was a great success. “It went very well,” he said. “Peace One Day is held once a year throughout the world – it’s normally 21st September but as that was a Sunday and pupils were not at school we chose to do something on Monday. We did it last year for the first time, and decided to do it this year again.” The school’s aim was to engage with the event and to make pupils and staff aware of the supporting actions that attempt to bring peace to nations and people all over the word. A mini peace concert was held as part of the evening show, with singers, a choir and orchestra among the performers, and there was also an art and photography exhibition which was open from the morning until 8.30pm.

“Around 300-400 pupils were involved in the production of the events,” added Mr Billington. “The idea was to challenge people and it was very well appreciated by the pupils and staff. The popularity of the day was shown in our evening event, where 398 out of the 400 tickets were gone by Monday afternoon.” Queen Anne were also involved in another event yesterday (Wednesday) – a 500-mile run for this year’s Whole School Challenge.

The aim was to run enough miles to visit every Scottish city, beginning and finishing in Dunfermline, with each participant tasked with a three metre shuttle run for five minutes.

The school hopes to have raised a significant amount of money from the event for the pupils' chosen charity, Fife Young Carers.