Stirling are the first to have an all-gold School Sport Award cluster, with eight schools receiving the sportscotland Gold School Sport Award.
The sportscotland School Sport Awards, funded by the National Lottery, are designed to encourage schools to reflect, plan, improve, connect, and place young people at the heart of what they do. The awards provide a framework for schools to be recognised across gold, silver and bronze levels.
The Gold School Sport Award celebrates schools who achieve excellence and leadership along with a dedication and commitment to promoting physical activity, sports participation, and well-being among students.
Collaborative working
Throughout the academic year, the Active Schools network and schools within the Balfron cluster worked together to encourage and support students to engage in a wide range of sports and physical activities.
Neil Thomson, Active Schools Coordinator at Active Stirling, said:
“It didn’t come together because of one person, it was a collective of people working well together."
"I built good relationships with each school, class teachers and deputy heads, meeting at breaks, lunchtime, and afterschool to keep the ball rolling. The schools, sports leaders, modern apprentices, parents, and staff were so invested in the programme which made it achievable.”
“I am delighted for the learning community, each school has worked very hard to gain the Gold School Sport Award. Since the award started all the schools have consistently done as much as they possibly can to make sure the standards don't drop, it’s a great learning community to work in and we look forward to maintaining this in years to come.”
Neil Macquarrie, Head of PE at Balfron High School said: “The support from Active Stirling is instrumental in building the opportunities for our high school pupils to deliver physical activity sessions to our primary schools and nurseries and to have our young leaders support after school clubs.”
“Our links to the community clubs remains strong and we continue to build on the work that we do with clubs like Strathendrick Rugby, Balfron Barracudas, Central Athletics and Innovate Gymnastics as well as other local clubs. We continue to strive to achieve the best for all our young people and the self-evaluative nature of the award remains an important part of our planning for improvement.”
Learning through sport
The schools within the cluster have consistently encouraged and supported the pupils to participate in a wide range of sports and physical activities. The schools reported that over 90% of pupils have attended extra-curricular activities and by providing a wide range of sports there have been improvements in physical health, as well as opportunities to learn valuable life skills.
Neil Thomson said:
“The School Sport Award has really helped in terms of a whole school approach to sport within each of the schools, all staff and all pupils have contributed in some way to achieve Gold for their school.”
He added: “This award does not happen without the parents and carers who go the extra mile to support and encourage their children to attend extra-curricular sport, festivals, fun fixtures, and professional sport.”
Elaine Bannatyne, Head Teacher of Balfron High School said: “The achievement of another gold award and in addition to a whole cluster Gold is testament to the value placed on PE, Physical Activity and Sport within the Balfron High School Learning community. We are really proud of being the first cluster to achieve the sportscotland School Sport Award at Gold level in every school.”
“Our learning community work in partnership with a wide range of agencies, particularly Active Stirling, to provide young people with opportunities to have taster sessions, lunchtime and after school clubs and leadership opportunities within sport and physical activity. We are very proud of the young people that we have in our Learning Community who are volunteers, coaches, Young Ambassadors and Sports Leaders.”
Building on success
The total number of gold schools has reached an all-time high, with more schools putting young people at the forefront of decision making and planning of school sport and PE.
Since the re-launch of School Sport Award in 2022, 258 schools across Scotland have been awarded a Gold Award, and over 222 silver and 143 bronze awards have been achieved. With 42% of schools in Scotland having now signed up to the award, the value that it holds for primary, secondary, combined and ASN (Additional Support Needs) is higher than ever.
Maree Todd, Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport said: “I welcome this record level of participation in the School Sport Award by schools. It demonstrates that children and teachers across Scotland are passionate about sport, physical activity and the many benefits which participation brings.”
Maree added: “The commitment to increase young people’s opportunities and engagement in physical education, school sport and leadership will hopefully inspire life-long participation in sport and physical activity."
Schools within the cluster include: Balfron High School, Balfron Primary School, Buchlyvie Primary School, Drymen Primary School, Fintry Primary School, Killearn Primary School, Kippen Primary School and Strathblane Primary School.
The award has set the standard for schools across the country with over 1000 schools in Scotland now engaged, across all 32 local authorities.
