Active Schools is celebrating its 20th Anniversary with thousands of young people in the Highlands having benefited from this national programme during that time – with some now even employed as their local Active Schools Coordinator, motivating the next generation.
Sportscotland started Active Schools in 2004 – working in partnership with all 32 local authorities across the country – with the aim of getting more children, more active, more often. The current approach to monitoring commenced in 2011, and since then Highland has had 4 million visits by pupils to more than 208,000 Active Schools sessions
Tina Gibson was one of the first Active Schools Coordinators employed by The Highland Council (before High Life Highland came into being). She has worked in Fortrose and Kingussie and is now the Active Schools Coordinator for Wick.
“It was an exciting time for those of us who were first to take on the roles of Active Schools Coordinators. We loved the ethos of giving more children more opportunities to play sports and be active – not only because it was free for them to take part – but because of the potential for long term benefits for physical and mental wellbeing.
“It has also been an amazing career for me – I absolutely love my job. I had to leave the area and my role for a few years, and I missed it so much. When the opportunity to return to came up, I jumped at the chance.”
For Elizabeth Macdonald from Nairn, being the Active Schools coordinator in her community has been a massive privilege.
“Active Schools has been my life! From here, I went on to develop and roll out the hugely successful Leadership Programme in schools, which offers a selection of varied learning opportunities using our own High Life Highland SCQF accredited ‘Choose To Lead’ awards.
“What we are essentially doing is creating our own volunteer workforce with older Leadership pupils helping to deliver the Active Schools sessions. Over 20 years there has been a continual cycle of young children taking part in Active Schools sessions and then going on to deliver these activities to others as Young Leaders.”
For Deanna Lundie (31) this is exactly what happened! Deanna is employed by High Life Highland as the Active Schools Coordinator for Nairn having been a pupil there, taking part in sessions such as trampolining and multi sports, organised by Elizabeth.
“I knew straight away that I wanted Elizabeth’s job one day! I studied Sports Management at UHI and every opportunity that arose in the holidays to get involved I took it, just to get my foot in the door – such as working as a lifeguard at Nairn Leisure. So when the job came up, I went for it.
“The Active Schools programme has opened up so many opportunities for me the whole time I have been involved from pupil to staff member. Through the programme I got to work at the London Olympics, I also got the chance to work with the Queens Baton Relay Team in 2014 and I also did a stint at the Commonwealth Games.
“The most rewarding thing though is giving children the opportunity to take part in some sort of sport. For many, it’s just something for fun, for others it sets them on a pathway to local, national or even international success in their sport.”
Deanna isn’t the only member of the High Life Highland team to come full circle in this way. Finlay McBain (28) was a pupil at Kingussie High School when Tina was the local coordinator. He said: “I headed off to gamekeeping college after school but after a year or so, I realised I really missed being involved in sport.
“I was lucky to get a relief post in the sports centre in Kingussie and because I had been involved with Active Schools as a Young Leader, and had developed the skills to deliver sessions to young people, I was soon given more activities to do. Eventually I was promoted to supervisor – but the job I really wanted was the Active Schools Coordinator post – but not having a degree, I didn’t think I would ever get it.
“When asked if I could step up to the role on a temporary basis to fill a gap in the service, I wholeheartedly agreed – and I’m still here!”
For Finlay, being involved in Active Schools has given him a massive confidence boost: “I was always shy. I never imagined I would be standing up in front of a room of people and delivering a fitness class but the skills I developed from my time at Kingussie High, being involved in Active Schools, helped me enormously and I know it is continuing to help generations of children coming through the scheme.
“It is great to see young people being given opportunities they might never get – kids who wouldn’t normally want to do sport – so to see them develop and thrive throughout the process is very satisfying.”
But it’s not just a team of staff that ensure the successful continuation of Active Schools across the Highlands. A massive team of volunteers is required.
“Volunteers are the absolute backbone of Active Schools,” explained Tina. “We are so lucky to have lots of willing helpers and our volunteers gain just as much as the children – new skills, sometimes new qualifications and for many, increasing confidence.”
Carol Dudley has been volunteering with Active Schools since 2006 and it’s been a family affair with her children taking part in sports sessions then becoming Young Leaders and coaches themselves, and even her husband helps out. Carol – who was named Volunteer of the Year at the High Life Highland Awards in 2013 – said: “Back at the beginning, all I did was take the register at cheerleading and before I knew it, I was part of this wonderful Active Schools squad whether it was gymnastics, trampolining, badminton – and lots more.
“It’s a fantastic thing to be a part of. It is wonderful to see children progress through their time at school and stay active in sport and develop their skills. Badminton is my passion and to watch a P1 child not be able to hit the shuttlecock to progress to being really good players in high school brings me great joy.”
Active Schools continues to go from strength to strength with more than 14,000 sessions delivered in Highland in 2023/24 to more than 13,000 participants, with the majority (99%) delivered by volunteers.
