Active Schools Network Conference 2006 - Part of something big
Thursday 2 March 2006
Over 650 delegates from across Scotland, the majority of whom are Active Schools coordinators and managers, gathered today in Glasgow for the inaugural Active Schools Network Conference.
Hosted by BBC Scotland’s Jackie Bird, the conference, held at SECC’s Clyde Auditorium, was a chance for all involved in the Active Schools Network to come together under one roof and share their experiences, discuss national issues and celebrate the progress with the work of the Network.
Part of the Scottish Executive’s healthylivingcampaign, Active Schools’ fundamental aim is to help children and young people adopt an active and healthy lifestyle by introducing more physical activity into their daily lives through sport, active travel, play and dance. These opportunities are available before, during and after school, as well as in the wider community. The Active Schools Network drives this work forward in the planning and coordinating of programmes of activity. They rely on a huge supporting network of people to make things happen, such as teachers, volunteers, coaches, young people, parents, communities and clubs.
Today’s conference kicked off with a Ministerial address from Robert Brown MSP, Deputy Minister for Education and Young People.
Deputy Education Minister Robert Brown said: "It’s vitally important to the health of our young people that we encourage them to get involved in physical activity and the Active Schools Network plays a vital role in this. By offering different activities like dance and aerobics, we can appeal to children who might be turned off by traditional pastimes like football or hockey.
"Active Schools does an excellent job by encouraging more children to be more active, more often. We must build upon this success to improve the health of all of Scotland’s children."
There were a range of speakers on the day, from Active Schools managers and coordinators – with their own experiences from the field – to health professionals and school pupils. A panel discussion ‘Why is physical activity so important?’ included, among others, Mary Allison, Head of Healthy Living topics, NHS Health Scotland, and Emma Traynor and Kevin Clark, 6th year pupils from St Margaret’s Sports Comprehensive, North Lanarkshire; in addition, Shirley Robertson OBE, British sailor and Olympic Gold medallist, took to the stage to speak about her school sporting experience.
Also speaking at today’s conference were John Beattie, Chair, Physical Activity Task Force, Wendy Halliday, Director, Scottish Health Promoting Schools Unit and Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair, sportscotland who spoke on London 2012 and Glasgow’s bid for the Commonwealth Games in 2014.
In February 2003, Active Schools was identified as a key element of the Scottish Executive’s drive to get more Scots more active – a commitment outlined in the National Physical Activity Strategy. The formal launch of Active Schools took place on 1 April 2004.
Every local authority in Scotland is now involved in Active Schools. Many organisations, bodies and individuals, including PE staff and sports development officers, work together nationally and locally, ensuring a connected approach at all levels.
Speaking at and closing the conference today was Stewart Harris, CEO, sportscotland. Harris started his career as a PE teacher and, for over a decade, much of his work at sportscotland has been to encourage participation in physical activity and sport in schools across Scotland and help start what has now evolved into the Active Schools Network.
Stewart Harris said: "sportscotland is committed to playing its part in the battle to improve health and physical activity in Scotland.
"Through working successfully in partnership with government agencies, parents, schools and community organisations we are making a significant contribution to tackling this issue.
"I am delighted with the achievements and expansion of the Active Schools Network and congratulate all those involved, including the coordinators and managers attending today’s conference, on their hard work to establish and maintain healthy, active lifestyles in our children and young people from an early age. I hope that this conference is the first of many and that it helps to inspire and motivate the Network for the years ahead."
- sportscotland’s role in the Active Schools Network is that of facilitator. This includes infrastructure development, strategic planning, partnership development, quality assurance, investment in resources, facilities development/management and monitoring and evaluation.
- sportscotland is playing a lead role in developing, supporting and monitoring the Network, working in close partnership with Scotland’s 32 Local Authorities.
- Active Schools started on 1 April 2004. Prior to this, sportscotland had in place the School Sport Coordinator Programme, which ran for over five years and had over 300 Secondary Coordinators. Also in place was the Active Primary School Pilot Programme, which ran for over three years and had approximately 36 Primary Coordinators. The evaluation from both these programmes was a key lever to releasing additional funding.
- As a result of successful work with the original School Sport Coordinator and Active Primary School Coordinator pilot programmes, the Scottish Executive granted sportscotland a budget of £24 million to further develop the physical activity and sport element of Active Schools to more schools throughout Scotland.
- Supporting the role of every Active Schools Manager is a designated sportscotland Partnership Manager. Their role is to assist each Active Schools Manager in the development and implementation of a local plan for Active Schools, which integrates with the Local Authority strategic plan for education, sport and health.
- Sport 21, the National Strategy for Sport, has set nine targets to be achieved by 2007, two of which specifically relate to primary age children: 80% of primary schoolchildren will be physically active; all schoolchildren will take part in at least two hours of high quality PE classes a week.
- In 04/05 alone, the Active Schools Network organised over 86,000 activity sessions in primary schools and over 100,000 in secondary schools across Scotland.
- Number of Active Schools Staff currently in place: 289 Active School Coordinators (Primary) - Full-Time; 328 Active School Coordinators (Secondary) - Part-Time; 10 Active School Coordinators (Special Educational Needs).
- Investment into Active Schools has been as follows: £2m in 2003-04 (to extend existing programmes to 31 March 04); £10m in 2005-06; £12m in 2006-07; Investment to Local Authorities via sportscotland of £24m over three years as part of the Healthy Living Initiative. This does not include additional investment from Scotland’s 32 Local Authorities.
- sportscotland is developing the Network in a way that is consistent with the ethos of Health Promoting Schools. The aim is to work together to position Active Schools as a key delivery mechanism for meeting the Scottish Executive’s agenda for every school in Scotland to be a Health Promoting School by 2007.