Friday 7 September 2007
With the new school term now underway, Communities and Sport Minister, Stewart Maxwell MSP, today visited Mearns Primary School in East Renfrewshire to see for the first time the positive impact that sportscotland’s Active Schools Network is having on the number and range of physical activity and sport opportunities for school aged youngsters. Active Schools plays a key role in the Scottish Government’s drive to promote active, healthy lifestyles.
As Active Schools becomes well established in schools across Scotland’s 32 local authorities, there are now clear signs of schools increasingly forging stronger links with sport in the community. Both schools and clubs are recognising the value of working together to ensure sustainable opportunities are created, enabling children to go on to develop their sporting skills and experience outside the school environment.
East Renfrewshire is a prime example of good practice with regard to developing school-club links, with their curriculum based Active 8 programme only including sports which have an existing club infrastructure as part of both after school activities and in the local community, providing an exit route from curriculum PE (golf, netball, basketball, tennis, athletics, football, hockey and rugby). Pupils are encouraged to take part in lunchtime and after school clubs organised by the active schools coordinators and are then supported through the transition to participation in local clubs, with both competitive and recreational options on offer.
This is all backed by coach education opportunities for teachers and a development forum that includes representation from teachers, active schools coordinators, governing bodies, sports development and local club colleagues.
Minister for Communities and Sport, Stewart Maxwell, said: “Active Schools has been successful in many parts of Scotland in encouraging more youngsters to play sport and try a wider range of sporting activities. I’m eager to assess the progress made so far and to identify areas of further improvement, to make sure as many young people as possible are benefiting from better sports provision.
“One area which I’m particularly keen to see developed is the linkages between schools and sports clubs, to make sure we’re nurturing more of our young sporting talent. That’s why I’m so pleased to see this already in action in East Renfrewshire and it’s my hope that we can learn the lessons from this example and build on them.”
East Renfrewshire Council’s education convener, Councillor Alan Lafferty said: “Active Schools is having a huge impact on the fitness levels of pupils. Fit pupils, in turn, are active and attentive and there is no doubt that the whole school benefits. We are very pleased to work with sportscotland which has allowed us to ensure that our young people take their new-found enthusiasm for sport beyond school and develop it in clubs and in the community.”
The Active Schools Network is managed by sportscotland and forms part of the Scottish Government’s Healthy Living Campaign which aims to offer children the motivation and opportunities to adopt active, healthy lifestyles. Through its ring fenced investment of £12 million per annum, sportscotland works with Scotland’s local authorities to support, develop and monitor the Active Schools Network by providing a national framework for delivery at local level. sportscotland also manages the forum for key partners to share good practice, contributing to the further development and success of Active Schools, supported by a web-based staff support programme.
Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair of sportscotland said: “Active Schools is now a cornerstone of daily life within a great many schools across Scotland.
“As the national agency for sport in Scotland, we believe the ‘pathways’ into physical activity and sport in the community are vitally important for long-term participation. We are therefore excited that the progressing relationships between sports development and Active Schools are proving fruitful.
”A number of local authorities like East Renfrewshire have brought together their sport, leisure and education officers to clarify roles, agree areas of overlap and identify ways of working together and moving forward in the future. This kind of best practice is clearly to the benefit of all concerned.”
Other good examples of an innovative approach to Active Schools can be found across the country. For example Aberdeenshire with their work on girls in sport, Clackmannanshire encouraging those with additional support needs and in Highland addressing the challenges of operating in a rural area.
1. Free photographs of today’s announcement in Newton Mearns are available from Sandy Young on 07970 268944.
2. Active Schools is a key element of the Scottish Government’s Healthy Living Campaign and is also part of the drive towards a healthier Scotland; a commitment outlined in the National Physical Activity Strategy, Let’s Make Scotland More Active. It also supports the Government’s aim to for all schools to be health promoting.
3. A key pillar in Active Schools is the development of a network of professionals to organise and coordinate activity – the ‘Active Schools Network’.
4. Active Schools is delivered by 32 Active Schools Managers, 293 Active Schools Coordinators (Primary), 343 Active Schools Coordinators (Secondary), 15 Additional Support Needs Coordinators (ASN). By the end of 2005-2006 over 20,000 people helped lead activity sessions with more than half of them unpaid volunteers.
5. In the 2005-06 school year 350,000 activity sessions took place in schools with Active Schools Coordinators in post, in addition to timetabled PE, representing an average rise of 17 per cent on the previous year. For primary schools the increase was 53 per cent. More than 8.5 million participant sessions were held across a range of 69 activities from rugby and hockey to Scottish dance and organised playground games.
6. In sportscotland’s Corporate Plan 2007-2011 our priority work for Active Schools with Scotland’s local authorities is to support and develop the Active Schools Network by:
- working with local authorities to invest in and maintain the Active Schools Network staffing infrastructure;
- managing the Network to support it to:
- recruit, support and sustain volunteers to deliver quality activity sessions
- develop improved links between schools, clubs and the wider community
- connect children to Scottish Governing Body (SGB) pathways
- provide targeted activities to increase and promote opportunities for under-represented groups;
- delivering a programme of training and support to the Network including the development of the Active Schools Network Community website;
- monitoring and locally evaluate the Active Schools Network;
- working with local authorities and other key partners to implement the outcomes of the Active Schools Coordinator (Secondary) Review;
- working towards long term strengthening of the Network.
7. sportscotland is spending £12 million a year on the Active Schools Network as part of its baseline funding from the Scottish Government.