Active Schools is a national programme which sees sportscotland working in partnership with all 32 local authorities to invest in and support the Active Schools Network. Here in Perth & Kinross, our Active Schools programme falls under the watchful eye of Tammy McKinlay, Active Schools Manager with Live Active Leisure.

Tammy’s role supports the 11 Active Schools co-ordinators and 800+ school sport volunteers, working throughout Perth and Kinross to provide more and higher quality opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity before school, during lunchtime and after school.  They also look to develop effective pathways between schools and sports clubs in the local community and to enhance the existing offer through exciting local projects such as the School Sport Coaching Project.

ACTIVE SCHOOLS – HOLIDAY TIME
SCHOOL SPORT COACHING PROJECT

This fantastic project is another successful partnership between Live Active Leisure and The Gannochy Trust and in partnership with School Sport Planning group, facilitates the development of young people in 4^th, 5^th and 6^th year who are looking to gain sports coaching qualifications.  

Tammy commented:

“The School Sport Coaching Project has been running for a number of years now and has always been really popular.  It offers young people the opportunity to gain nationally recognised qualifications in return for 20 hours of their time on completion, which sees them coach younger athletes in their chosen sport, either via the school or as part of their local community clubs.  It really is a great win-win project that sees reward on many levels.”

Always keen to develop successful projects, Live Active Leisure has, for the first time, opened up the School Sport Coaching Project during the holiday period.  It is hoped that this will make it even more accessible as it means no disruption to class attendance.

Kicking off in North Inch Community Campus in mid-July with a week-long Level 4 Dance Leadership course, the school holiday courses have had a great response and will be rolled out further for October 2017 and Easter 2018.   

Tammy continued:

“This is such a great opportunity for young people to take their sporting involvement to the next level while gaining a qualification and building up volunteer hours.  As well as being great fun it’s a real cv winner at a time when many will be applying to university or college, or looking to get into the workplace.”

Teenagers looking to take part this time round can still book a place on the week-long courses running from 31^st July to 4^th August.   There is still availability on volleyball, football, hockey, badminton, basketball and netball with gymnastics already full.   Contact Steven Rice, Active Schools Co-ordinator on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further details.

ACTIVE SCHOOLS – YEAR ROUND 
EXTRA CURRICULAR SCHOOL SPORTS

By offering an easy, free solution straight from school, Active Schools helps all school aged children and young people squeeze that all important 60 minutes of activity into their busy schedules.  The range on offer in Perth & Kinross is fantastic and includes (amongst many others) hockey, netball, football, gymnastics, dance and fitness classes.   This does vary from school to school so please do check with your own school or PE dept.

Active Schools in Perth & Kinross relies heavily on the 800+ volunteers who deliver these sessions and in turn, these volunteers – many of whom are school staff – are supported year round by Live Active Leisure’s Active School Co-ordinators.  This small but brilliant team offer admin assistance, identify new opportunities and gaps in the programme and develop the senior pupil volunteers via the school sport coaching project you’ve just read about.

When schools have a strong extra-curricular programme that has choice and consistency, pupils are more likely to engage in sport beyond the traditional ‘drop-off’ age of 14.   Research has shown that teenagers who engage with sports are more likely to beat the stresses of exams, relationships, and other teenage issues as well as engendering a love of sports and fitness that will carry on throughout their lives.  

If you’d like to volunteer as part of the Active Schools programme, please contact Tammy McKinlay on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .  You don’t have to have previous experience all we ask is that you have time to commit, a keen interest in sports or fitness or a desire to work with children. In return, LAL will offer support in training and leadership qualifications before pairing you up with your local school or community club.

PHOTO: The first 12 girls - all aged 14 to 16 - attending the week-long Level 4 Dance Leadership course at North Inch Community Campus