King’s Park and Strathesk Primary Schools have been recognised with a prestigious national award
The sportscotland Gold School Sport Award were presented to staff and pupils at the schools in January by Andrew Baptie of Sport Scotland. Strathesk Primary School celebrated with a morning of sport, allowing pupils to take part in a variety of sports sessions. King’s Park Primary School pupils attended the celebration ceremony wearing the local sports club kit and sportswear.
The School Sport Award is a national initiative that is designed to encourage schools to continuously improve physical education and sport. The Award also encourages sporting links between schools and the communities around them.
There are currently 158 Gold Schools, 281 Silver and 92 Bronze across Scotland.
Stewart Harris, Chief Executive of sportscotland said: I would like to congratulate all of the staff and pupils at the schools for putting physical education and sport at the heart of their schools and local communities. They should all be extremely proud of this fantastic achievement.
“At sportscotland we’re building a world-class sporting system for everyone, and a crucial part of that is putting young people at the centre of our efforts. Working with our partners in local authorities and governing bodies of sport, we are creating closer links between physical education, school sport and club sport, which benefits young people by providing more and better opportunities to take part in sport.”
To achieve a Bronze or Silver sportscotland School Sport Award, schools self-assess their current practice. However, to gain Gold status an extensive external assessment is also carried out by an independent panel of experts.
Councillor Bob Constable, Midlothian Council’s cabinet member for education, congratulated all schools staff who worked in conjunction with the council’s Active Schools co-ordinators.
He said: “Both schools have worked very hard to put sport and health at the centre of what they do. Well done to them for such a fantastic sporting achievement. I’m sure the pupils have had great fun along the way as well as getting fitter.”
The Young People’s Sports Panel were central in the development of the School Sport Award which means that young people were able to input at the earliest opportunity.
The award aims to put sport at the heart of each school and its wider community. The Award also encourages schools to ensure there are opportunities for all children and young people to engage, participate and reach their potential in this area.
The on-line self-assessment tool supports schools to achieve this by helping them to reflect on their current practice and identify areas for improvement. It also puts the young people in the school at the forefront of the decision making and implementation processes around sport in their school.
