The number of Granite City schools gaining top accreditation from national governing body sportscotland has hit double figures, the highest number Aberdeen has seen to date.
There are now a total of 11 schools citywide who are proud to have achieved the sportscotland School Sport Award, with four of these being awarded gold, the highest accreditation attainable in Scotland.
The sportscotland School Sport Award is a national initiative designed to encourage schools to continuously improve sporting opportunities, with all schools from Scotland invited to apply for the award.
Active Schools Aberdeen, part of registered charity Sport Aberdeen, work closely with PE and wider school staff to facilitate extra-curricular school sports and physical activity throughout the year. Participation figures continue to rise year on year and the Active Schools team will continue to play a key role in motivating more young people to get active in the city.
Aberdeen Grammar School, which was recently named as the Secondary School of the Year at Aberdeen’s Sports Awards, and Hazlehead Academy have been awarded the Gold Award, joining Hazlehead Primary School and Bridge of Don Academy who were awarded the top accolade last year for their innovative and dedicated approach to ensuring that sport and physical activity is available to all pupils.
Hazlehead Academy is the first school in Aberdeen to be reaccredited after receiving the gold award two years ago.
Jo Bell, Sport Aberdeen director for sport and active lifestyles, said:
“To see more schools engage with the sportscotland awards and be accredited with gold, silver or bronze is really encouraging and clearly demonstrates how working together we can create a culture which celebrates sport across schools in Aberdeen, inspiring future generations to lead active lives.
“Sport Aberdeen is committed to creating opportunities for young people to take part in sport and physical activity and these awards are testament to the hard work carried out by Active Schools and all school staff and in particular the PE Departments.
Education and Children’s services convenor, councillor John Wheeler said:
“It’s fantastic to see so many of our schools achieve sportscotland School Sports Awards not only for the prestige but also for the fact the awards are tangible evidence of increased participation as well as improved opportunities for our pupils.
“My congratulations to all the staff and pupils involved for all their hard work in achieving their well-deserved recognition.”
Stewart Harris, chief executive of sportscotland, said:
“Congratulations to the staff and pupils at all 11 Aberdeen schools which have won these awards - they should be extremely proud of this fantastic achievement. Not only have they put physical education and sport at the heart of their school and local community, but they have managed to do so in a way that encourages all pupils to engage in physical activity whilst having fun at the same time.
“sportscotland is committed to building a world-class sporting system for everyone, and a crucial part of that is putting young people at the heart. 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.”
Alison Murison, Aberdeen Grammar School head teacher, also commented:
“Achieving the sportscotland Gold Award is testament to the hard work and commitment of our whole school community, including the support of our former pupils. Our staff go the extra mile to ensure our pupils benefit from the opportunity to participate in physical activity within the school day and as part of our vast extracurricular programme.
“In-turn, our fantastic pupils appreciate this, give their best and really gain in so many ways from taking part and leading activities. As a school, we care about our young people and their health and wellbeing, part of this is delivering and ensuring they experience high quality physical activity. They enjoy it and there is no doubt that happy young people achieve, we can see this in their high attainment and performance across the rest of the curriculum. I am very proud of everyone and my thanks to sportscotland for recognising this great work.”