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Attn: Sports / News Desks – For immediate release: October 2018

ST AUGUSTINE’S PRIMARY SCHOOL AWARDED GOLD STATUS BY SPORTSCOTLAND

St Augustine’s Primary School in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, has been recognised with a prestigious national award for innovation and achievement in delivering school sport.

The sportscotland Gold School Sport Award will be presented to staff and pupils at the school on 15^th November 2018.

St Augustine’s Primary School is among 284 schools awarded gold status across the country, a record number and a jump of over a third from 2016/2017.

As part of the National Lottery funded programme, the sportscotland School Sport Award is a national initiative that is designed to encourage schools to continuously improve sport. The award also encourages sporting links between schools and the communities around them.

Stewart Harris, Chief Executive of sportscotland, said: “Congratulations to all the staff and pupils at St Augustine’s Primary School – 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.”

There are now a record number of schools in Scotland that have earned an award. There are currently 284 sportscotland Gold School Sport Award schools, 307 schools have been awarded Silver and 82 with Bronze.

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.

Caroline Docherty, Head Teacher, from St Augustine’s Primary School commented: “It’s an honour to be awarded the sportscotland Gold School Sport Award. Our staff work incredibly hard to deliver physical education and involve our pupils in various sporting events.  We believe that physical education, physical activity and sport are important factors in the school curriculum and we are delighted to receive this award.”

The sportscotland School Sport Award is supported by the Active Schools Network, a programme that involves sportscotland working in partnership with all 32 local authorities to encourage 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.

For more information, please visit https://sportscotland.org.uk/schools/school-sport-award/

-ends-

For more information, please contact

Caroline Docherty
Head Teacher
St Augustine’s Primary School
01236 632090
HT@st-augustines.n-lanark.sch.uk

Notes to editors

• For more information on the sportscotland School Sport Award visit: https://sportscotland.org.uk/schools/school-sport-award/
• 284 schools were awarded gold status this year, 307 silver and 82 bronze.
• sportscotland is the national agency for sport. It is a non-departmental public body, responsible through ministers to the Scottish Parliament. It is a National Lottery Fund distributor and is governed by National Lottery distribution rules. sportscotland invest Scottish Government and National Lottery resources to build a world-class sporting system for everyone in Scotland.
• Is e spòrsalba am buidheann nàiseanta airson spòrs. ’S e buidheann poblach neo-roinneil a th’ ann, cunntachail tro na ministearan do Phàrlamaid na h-Alba. Tha e na riaraiche air Maoin a’ Chrannchuir Nàiseanta agus air a riaghladh le riaghailtean riarachaidh a’ Chrannchuir Nàiseanta. Tha spòrsalba ag inbheisteadh stòrasan Riaghaltas na h-Alba agus a’ Chrannchuir Nàiseanta gus siostam spòrs aig ìre chruinneil a thogail do gach neach ann an Alba.

For further information about sportscotland, go to: https://sportscotland.org.uk

The sportscotland School Sport Award focuses on the following 9 core areas;

1. Physical education – All pupils should have access to 2 hours/2 periods of quality physical education.
2. School sport – All pupils should have access to a range of quality extracurricular sports and activities to take part in before, during and after school.
3. Pathways – There should be clear pathways to a range of community sport opportunities to encourage lifelong participation for all pupils.
4. Compete and perform – Pupils should have opportunities to compete and perform in events, festivals and regular competition.
5. Celebrating sport – Pupils achievements in sport at all levels should be celebrated, including; participation, performance, spectating, leading, coaching and officiating.
6. Leadership – Pupils should have opportunities to lead, coach, officiate and influence sport in their schools.
7. Career long professional learning (CLPL) – All staff and volunteer deliverers should be encouraged to engage in and have access to a range of quality physical education and sport related CLPL opportunities.
8. Recognition and awards – Schools should formally and informally recognise the staff and volunteers who give up their time to support, organise or deliver extracurricular sport and physical activity opportunities in the school.
9. Access to school facilities (secondary only) – School should form strong links to local sports clubs and organisations and provide preferential access to school facilities for these linked organisations, where possible.

The School Sport Award review panel consist of representatives from the following groups and organisations;

• sportscotland
• Physical Education Lead Officer network
• Active Schools network
• Young People’s Sport Panel
• National Governing Bodies of Sport
• Scottish Disability Sport

Active Schools

sportscotland works in partnership with all 32 local authorities to invest in and support the Active Schools Network. The Network consists of over 400 managers and coordinators dedicated to developing and supporting the delivery of quality sporting opportunities for children and young people.

Active Schools aims to provide more and higher quality opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity before school, during lunchtime and after school, and to develop effective pathways between schools and sports clubs in the local community.

The Health Committee met on Friday and discussed how they would like an area to be developed in the garden that offers an area of calm.  They would like this area to be used for anyone who perhaps falls out with their friends or just needs a little bit of quiet time.  We can’t wait to see how this develops.

In the meantime the Committee would like to remind pupils to use their Worry Box which is available in every class.  You don’t need to put your name on entries but by using this tool together we can help work through any problems you might be having.