As Active Schools reaches its 13-year anniversary, we catch up with a leading light who embodies the ambition and success of the programme and demonstrates that volunteering at school really can lead to bigger and better things.
Meet Laura
Laura Somerville, Active Schools coordinator at Holy Cross High School, is used to being busy.
She started out as an Active Schools volunteer and volunteered for five years before becoming an Active Schools coordinator.
Her role now is to provide more and higher quality opportunities for young people to take part in sport and physical activity before school, during lunchtime and after school, and to develop effective pathways between schools and sports clubs in the local community.
She does this through developing strong partnerships, creating opportunities and recruiting and developing volunteers. Watch our video to find out more.
Holy Cross High School
Holy Cross has 1,140 pupils and is one of six cluster schools supported by Laura in South Lanarkshire.
In 2015, Holy Cross achieved the prestigious Gold sportscotland School Sport Award having excelled at creating a first class sporting environment and providing opportunities for pupils to lead, coach, officiate and influence sport in their school.
Over the years, Laura has worked diligently in the area to develop a culture for sport in schools and encourage young people in South Lanarkshire to get involved in sport.
From school to wider community
Beyond the school gates, Laura works with a range of partners including local sports clubs, sports development officers, community sport hubs, colleges and universities to provide pathways to support young people to stay involved and progress in sport.
Active Schools sits within the South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Trust which offers an integrated and innovative approach to sport. There are very strong school to club links within Holy Cross, thanks to the Club SL system, a club accreditation programme which helps develop and support: good governance, qualified coaches, volunteers, club structures and inclusive clubs.
The Club SL scheme was developed in consultation with Active Schools, sports development, facility managers, other local authorities, to ensure quality and safe club opportunities in a wide range of local sports clubs throughout South Lanarkshire.
Find out more
sportscotland works in partnership with all 32 local authorities to invest in and support the Active Schools Network, which consists of more than 400 managers and coordinators dedicated to developing and supporting the delivery of quality sporting opportunities for children and young people.
For more information visit the sportscotland website.
