DAoS Report 2016

Dundee Academy of Sport Summative Report

DUNDEE ACADEMY OF SPORT

DISCOVERING

EDUCATION THROUGH SPORT

163

707

103

articulation sessions

CPD events

3141

Sport as a context for learning lessons

3286

attendance

20, 955

attendance in schools programme

attendance

94

articulating sport students from partner colleges

53

summer camps

994

attendance

“The Dundee Academy of Sport has taught me that I can reach my goals if I put my mind to it.”

28, 376

total attendance!

Johny, Sidlawview Primary School

“ I enjoyed seeing if I was quicker than Usain Bolt.”

Graham, Ballumbie Primary

“The psychology lessons will help me with my PE coursework and I now want a career in sports.”

Ryan, Braeview Academy

DISCOVERING

EDUCATION THROUGH SPORT

“I now feel more informed about moving onto uni in the future.”

Support

Wo

Physica Develo

Artic Exciting

Student Centred

CPD Cognitive Skills

Sharin

Transition

Summer Camps

Making a difference

Achievement

Academic Skills

Sarah, Menzieshill High

“ I think I am more confident now after taking part in Aim High and enjoyed the marketing challenge.�

Lyn, St Pauls Academy

orkforce

Knowledge

al Activity opment Respected

Sport

Access

Inspirational

Success

culation CfE

ng

Learning

Unique

Fun

Innovative Interesting

Attainment

Partnership

Introduction Since September 2013 Abertay University and Dundee & Angus College have been working in partnership to create the Dundee Academy of Sport. The Dundee Academy of Sport is a project that uses sport as a means to engage and inspire sporting and educational attainment contributing to increased attainment and achievement levels in pupils, students and members of the public.

Through funding from the Scottish Funding Council the project achieves the following three objectives: • Delivering widening access interventions to various academic subjects embedded with the Curriculum for Excellence • Establishing a single provider of sport education in Tayside, providing training and education from Access level to PhD, simplifying the learner journey, allowing seamless transition, and enhancing retention and progression • Developing the workforce through CPD opportunities.

The above objectives summarise the specific targets set out by the Scottish Funding Council in their funding offer (Appendix 1) and are incorporated in the Outcome Agreements of both institutions.

Both institutions have a history and reputation for the high standard of teaching in sports and exercise with around 800 students studying sport and sport related programmes across the two institutions, ranging from entry level NQ qualifications through to postgraduate and higher degree research. The project supports this breadth of teaching and learning by increasing articulation levels into sports related degree programmes and creating a culture of lifelong learning in sports participation and performance whilst supporting local schools to tackle the attainment gap. The work of the project combines (1) Widening access to education and (2) Workforce development with the end goal of the project being seamless transition from school to college/university or from college onto university level study. To that end our work includes: • Using sport as a context for learning in partner primary and secondary schools • The provision of summer camp opportunities to motivate, inspire and engage young people in sport and education

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• Supporting and preparing students to articulate from partner colleges onto studying a sports related degree at Abertay University • Providing Continuous Professional .

Therefore contextualised learning is at the heart of the project’s values and as such the project acts as a bridging programme between school, college and university study. The project works in areas of multiple deprivation to encourage young people to recognise their potential to continue in education. Links between sport and a wide range of academic subjects are exploited to increase attainment levels within partner schools. One focus of the work with senior pupils is supporting and encouraging them to study in a higher education context. The project also works with students in further education to support their articulation onto higher education. Within this area of work key skills are developed such as critical thinking, independent learning and research skills to ensure that students develop a range of skills appropriate for higher education but also to ensure that the notion of lifelong learning is apparent and reflective in their practice.

The following report will demonstrate how we have scored against our targets along with providing strategic context to the positioning of the project within national programmes such as the Attainment Challenge, the Commission on Widening Access and Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce.

Using sport as a context for learning in partner primary and secondary schools “This partnership with Dundee Academy of Sport has been one of the best inventions I have experienced as my time as a head teacher. It is an exciting time within education when we can work with inspirational, talented people to make learning more meaningful and fun. Learning with a real context brings learning to life which has been evident in the motivation levels of our children. I have been thoroughly impressed with the professionalism, knowledge and wisdom of the people we have worked with [at DundeeAcademy of Sport].”

Head Teacher from partner school The Dundee Academy of Sport’s engagement with schools has seen over 650 lessons delivered across 80 schools within Tayside and Fife using sport as a context for learning. This outreach work has resulted in a total attendance of over 20,000 school pupils.

These bespoke interventions to primary and secondary schools are designed to inspire and instil confidence in young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds and all had sport or physical activity at the heart of the lessons. These interventions have not only inspired sporting participation but also acted as a vehicle for engaging students in education by exploiting links between sport and a wide range of academic subjects, from Maths to History, Chemistry to Sociology, and Nutrition to Literature.

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Pupil Attendance in DAoS 25000 20955

Pupil Attendance

20000

15000

9814

10000

5000

8362

2779

0 2013/2014 2013/2014

2014/2015 2014/2015

2015/2016 (as of 02.06.16)

2015/2016 (as of 02.06.16)

Total Total

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Using knowledge and expertise within the Dundee Academy of Sport team, lessons using sport as the context have been devised and delivered across all curricular areas. Cycling has been used to teach French, football has been used to teach Maths, cricket to teach History, the Olympics to teach about Moral and Religious Education and rugby to teach Physics and Biology. Creativity and enthusiasm for sport has been core to each of the lessons with a learner centred approach to the Academy’s teaching and learning strategy. This approach has ensured that all subject areas within the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) have been supported through the work of the project.

DAoS Delivery & CfE Subject Areas Technologies 6%

Expressive Arts 1%

Technologies

Social Sciences 11%

Sciences 23%

Expressive Arts

Social Sciences Health & Wellbeing 47%

Sciences Religious & Moral Education Mathematics

Religious & Moral Education 1%

Languages Mathematics 5%

Languages 6%

Health & Wellbeing

Whilst there has been a focus on the more senior phase of the school cohort the project has worked with nursery groups through to senior school pupils. 56% of our work has been with pupils either within the senior or 3rd and 4th phase of the Curriculum for Excellence.

Working with pupils within the senior phase has allowed the project to work with pupils to upskill, support and raise confidence levels about studying at college or university. A key component of our work with schools has been the ability to teach school pupils on campus at D&A College or Abertay University to provide the pupils with a flavour of life in further and higher education. For many of our pupils this dispelled myths about Further & Higher Education and removed perceived barriers, whetting the appetite for continuing their studies after school. Raising aspiration and confidence levels in the pupils we work with is a key output of our work.

The project has delivered a variety of Aim High events for senior pupils which focus on giving the pupils an experience of college and university education. These events would break down stigma about attending college and or university by providing pupils the chance to see the Abertay and

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D&A College Campuses, to take part in tutorials, lectures and practicals and get to meet some of the students and staff within each institution. The legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the use of performance enhancement drugs in sports, and gender inequalities were all used within the Aim High events to stimulate thoughts, discussion and debate. In addition to this, students were given practical challenges to develop academic skills such as creating a marketing plan for Dundee Academy of Sport, running events, the promotion of physical activity and the design of new sport facilities and provisions. The feedback received from the pupils has underlined the importance of providing such opportunities. 82.5% of the senior pupils involved in Aim High events felt more confident about entering higher or further education as a result of the activity. An example of the breadth of work delivered with Arbroath Academy can be viewed in Appendix 2. % of seniorpupils more confident about entering HE/FE after attending Aim High

82.5%

DAoS Delivery & CfE Stages Early 2%

1st 3%

1st

Senior Phase 21%

Early 2nd 36%

Senior Phase 3rd & 4th

3rd & 4th 38%

2nd

Clearly this level of engagement with schools would only occur if we had high levels of confidence from partners within local authority education departments. Since our inception we have endeavoured to add value to the excellent teaching and learning that takes place within our partner schools. Therefore the development of strong partnerships with stakeholders has been a key factor in the level of engagement achieved by the project. The bespoke interventions delivered by DAoS are created through dialogue with head and class teachers to ensure that they are relevant, pitched at the correct level and contribute to the teaching of significant aspects of learning and experiences and outcomes within the Curriculum for Excellence. We are therefore delighted to have received the following feedback from teachers:

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Feedback from teachers 100% 90% 80% 70% 60%

68

70

70

53

51

31

35

50% 40% 30% 20%

27

23

25

10% 0%

How satisfied were you with the intervention?

Was the class How engaged were Were your learners Did the pitched your learners by more engaged in intervention act as appropriately? the delivery? the subject after a springboard for the intervention? future lessons? poor

fair

good

very good

excellent

Teacher Feedback

Did the intervention meet your expectations?

99% meet expectations Recommend

Would you work with Dundee Academy of Sport again in the future?

100%

Work with DAoS again?

Would you recommend Dundee Academy of Sport to your colleagues?

100%

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The provision of summer camp opportunities to motivate, inspire and engage young people in sport and education “Thank you for the week…it’s been amazing!”

“I’ve had a load of fun. My confidence is sky high” The project was tasked with following up the curriculum based work by providing exciting sport and physical activity summer camp opportunities to inspire and motivate participation in sport but also to tackle the drop in attainment levels often seen over the summer holiday period.

A key facet of the DAoS programme has been its ability to work alongside partners and to understand the context in which they work. Through discussions with various partners it was evident that providing additional summer camp provision was not in the best interest of our partners and stakeholders. Therefore DAoS decided to provide additional support to existing programmes whilst providing unique opportunities to participate in a summer programme only where there was a gap in provision.

Highlights from this tactic have included: • 240 children participating in summer camps designed to support the transition from primary to secondary school • 100 talented athletes attending elite level summer camps and sports science sessions designed to support athletic performance alongside developing a motivation to study sport • Partnership working with D&A College and the Children’s University to provide E-Learning Passports and Children’s University accreditation for 127 children • Partnership working with The Princes Trust to deliver a Get into Sport programme that provided young people an exposure to employment within the sport and physical activity sector. 15 young people took part in the Get into Sport programme with 12 progressing to positive destinations.

• Residential camps for 100 senior school pupils that focussed on developing a growth mindset and the motivation to enter further or higher education.

•

The development of the Golden Ticket programme whereby children identified through Children Services as not having the means to attend a summer camp were supported by DAoS to do so.

220 children attended summer camps through this programme in 2015 and a further 250 predicted to do so in 2016.

Supporting and preparing students to articulate from partner colleges onto studying a sports related degree at Abertay University Via weekly tutorials with college students DAoS support the development of key academic skills such as critical thinking, independent learning and research skills to ensure that students develop a range of skills appropriate for higher education but also to ensure that the notion of lifelong learning is apparent and reflective in their practice. Again contextualised teaching is used to inspire and motivate – key and current issues in sport are used as the context to stimulate discussion, rationale

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Summer Camps Attendance Summer Camps andand Attendance Number of Camps/Attendance

1200 994 1000 800

673

600 321

400 200

51

14

37

2013/2014

2014/2015

0 Total

Attendance

Events

and opinions with the students. In accordance with general trends across the sector, many articulating students struggle with the challenge of progressing to University with research suggesting that articulating students feel the need to “catch up� and as a consequence suffer from a lack of confidence.

The pre entry support sessions address these feelings by providing college students with an experience of university prior to attending. The students gain experience of learning and teaching styles at university alongside breaking down issues around familiarity of teaching style, teaching staff and the learning environment.

In addition to this students have attended conferences, gained industry qualifications through our CPD programme and from 2016 will be able to undertake the Dundee Academy of Sport: Summer Season Virtual Learning Environment Course to further support their transition. Progress with regard to all the project articulation and access targets can be seen below.

Articulation and Access

70 59

60 50

38

40 32 30 20

26 27 16

41

30 25

19 12

8

10

12 13

9 11 3

0 Articulation onto sports related degrees from partner colleges

% of articulation from partner colleges from SIMD20 (target 25%)

Increase the % of disabled students in the University

baseline

14/15

Increase the % of disabled students studying sport in the University 15/16

Increase the % of women undertaking sports courses

AHEAD Course enrolment

16/17

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The work to support articulating students was highlighted as best practice in Abertay’s Enhancement Led Institutional Review conducted by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). The report describing the work as “A deliberate and sustainable strategy for supporting students entering the University from its partner colleges” (Abertay ELIR Report 2016). Equally analysis on the performance of articulating student once at Abertay has shown that there are no significant differences in pass/fail rates between articulant students and four year honours students. A resume of the work of the project with sports students with partner colleges can be seen below: • Weekly Session with HNC/ HND Students • Support to NQ Students • Competitive Sports Fixtures • HN Conference

• Two visits and workshop to Fife College Sport Students • One visit to Abertay

• Nutritional Input to HN Pro Golf Students • Two times weekly S&C Programme • Visits to Abertay

D&A College

Fife College

SRUC Elmwood

Continuous Professional Development for those involved in the delivery of sport and physical activity in the community “I attended the lecture along with my son who found the experience very inspiring. We can all find ourselves in the fixed mindset as Matthew Syed discussed; he provided us with an insight into how it is possible to turn things around. I can see how young and old could benefit from such an experience” “Possibly the best lecture of this type I have attended…excellent!”

DAoS has provided a range of formal and informal opportunities for those involved in the sport and exercise industry to learn, reflect and develop their practice. Attendance at our CPD opportunities has ranged from enthusiastic parents to sport and exercise students and from teachers through to high performance coaches. Again partnership work has been central to the development of our CPD programme with consultation with partners such as local sports clubs, both institutions’ Sports Unions, Sports Governing Bodies and Education Departments helping to form the programme.

The project has supported sports students to gain industry awards alongside their studies to ensure that they can enter the workplace ready to work. These awards have included sports NGB awards and fitness industry qualifications alongside providing practical opportunities to develop coaching skills through our work in schools, support to local sports clubs and through developing fitness activities on campus.

In addition to this the project has developed with Craigie High School and Arbroath High School opportunities for school pupils to achieve industry qualifications in the senior phase through a modified timetable. This allowed for pupils to achieve pool lifeguard qualifications and fitness industry qualifications

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whilst studying for National 5’s or Highers. The matrix of qualification offered throughout the project can be seen below:

Sport governing body awards

Fitness industry awards

First Aid

Introduction to sport sciences

Conference presentations

Vocational experiences for students

DAoS staff development

Teacher CPD: using sport as as context for learning: Physical Literacy Higher/Advanced Higher PE Factors that effect performance

Keynote speakers

The project has also arranged for some world class presenters to deliver to local sports and educational practitioners. These sessions have provided unique learning opportunities for local teachers, coaches and parents to learn from world renowned experts and in the case of Professor Dweck helped Dundee City Council review educational practice to establish a Mindset Programme to support the raising of attainment. These presentations have included:

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With an attendance of over 3200 our CPD programme has significantly supported local sport and physical activity organisations to provide opportunities for the community to be active. The attendance in our CPD programme can be viewed below.

CPD Events and Attendance 3500

3286

3000

Attendance

2500 2000

1626

1500

1186

1000 474

500 0

40

16

47

2013/2014

2014/2015 Events

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2015/2016 (as of 02.06.16) Attendance

103 Total

Conclusion The project has made much progress to address the challenges around educational attainment and achievement. During the course of the project the Dundee Academy of Sport has worked with over 70 schools and achieved a total attendance of over 20,000 school pupils. Feedback from teachers and pupils alike supports the notion that sport can be a tool to inspire, engage and tackle the attainment gap. Equally the work of the project has resulted in a spike in articulation numbers through promoting the notion of studying at University level coupled with providing support to allow students to progress and successfully study at Abertay. Finally through the CPD programme and our support to local sports summer camps the project has added value to the local sports community by providing best practice and exposing young athletes from grassroots through to elite level opportunities to improve performance, have fun and learn. The impact of the project can be best underlined by the following quote received from a parent of a pupil from a partner school.

“My daughter attended the talk at Gardyne College yesterday, and I felt I had to write to say thank you on her behalf. I have never known her to be inspired and motivated as much as she was when she came home from school yesterday.

After listening to the talk yesterday, she came home and discussed with me how she feels overlooked at school, and has often even considered causing problems just to be noticed - but thankfully she has the common sense to know that is not the way forward.

As a result of the talk she, along with some friends (some other invisible pupils) have decided to form a band, as they are all talented in their own way but did not have the confidence to push this forward, and they have approached teaching staff to facilitate this. It’s only a small step, but even so it’s a step forward.

Although as a mum I encourage her as much as possible, hearing encouragement from a stranger who has felt the same, yet went on to achieve has worked wonders for her, and as she begins 4th year and looks towards exams and her future, I firmly believe you have changed the outlook for at least one teenager, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

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Appendix 1 Dundee Academy of Sport Targets and Milestones

Primary Schools Secondary Schools Total Schools Summer Camp Events Summer Camp Attendance CPD Events CPD Attendance Articulation onto sports related degrees from partner colleges % of articulation from partner colleges from SIMD20 (target 25%) Increase the % of disabled students in the University Increase the % of disabled students studying sport in the University Increase the % of women undertaking sports courses Enrolment

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13/14 14/15 15/16 Baseline Target Achieved Target Achieved Target Achieved as of 02.06.16 0 20 24 50 50 61 42 0

4

4

8

15

12

21

0

24

28

58

65

73

63

0

8

14

12

37

16

0

0

300

321

500

673

800

0

0 0

15 200

16 474

20 250

47 1626

25 300

36 1179

16

25

32

35

59

40

TBC

25

19

25

12

25

TBC

8

10

12

11

13

12

TBC

3

4

9

6

11

10

TBC

26

30

27

35

30

40

TBC

25

35

38

40

41

45

TBC

Appendix 2

At Arbroath Academy the staff team are continuously developing a curriculum that fosters creativity in both staff and pupils while encouraging everyone to aspire to be the best they can be. This climate of continuous innovation embraces a vibrant and progressive culture and ethos that promotes respect, ambition and achievement for everyone within the school.

Situated in an area of multiple deprivation, a considerable percentage of the pupils lack confidence in their own ability and have limited ambition in relation to continuing their education beyond school. As a means of challenging this culture of low self- esteem and with a view to improving attainment, the senior leadership team and staff have devised creative opportunities across the curriculum ensuring pupils have many varied learning experiences to support their learning and development.

This creativity has been further enhanced through working in partnership with Dundee Academy of Sport, a partnership project between Abertay University and Dundee and Angus College that uses sport as a context for learning across all curriculum areas.

Within the School Improvement Plan key priorities for the school include: • Ensuring a range of strategies are being used to assess pupils’ progress through the broad, general education • Further developing the extended S1 transition to support pupils to make the best start at the Academy and • Reviewing curricular pathways through broad, general education and Senior Phase. (Summary Improvement Plan 2015-2016).

To meet these key priorities, opportunities to further engage pupils through creativity arise throughout school namely: • P7-S1 transition – a pilot Maths/Numeracy project with the aim of engaging pupils in fun maths with relevance to individuals improving performance.

• S2 - Masterclasses in Science and Cycling and in PE - Performance testing • S3 – Careers pathways and subject choices • S4 – Study skills, dealing with exam stress and exam technique • S5/6 – Aim High events based in college /university involving guest motivational speakers and activities linked to progressing to Higher Education.

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P7-S1 transition Having agreed with their cluster primary schools that numeracy is an area that should have additional focus, a pilot project was devised and undertaken in conjunction with Dundee Academy of Sport. The principle driver is to make Maths seem relevant to individuals and fun to participate in rather than, as is often the case, be a subject that pupils view as difficult to understand.

A team from DAoS visit each Primary 7 class within the various cluster primary schools and work with all pupils to undertake a series of straight forward fitness focused activities that allow the individual pupils to record their own data. This data is collected in a specially designed workbook.

When the pupils go to the Academy for one of their Transition days, the Maths department staff use the data collected to help pupils learn about sorting and analysing data and presenting data in various forms. While individual data is shared as part of whole group data, this is done in a non-threatening and inclusive manner as it is immaterial whether someone records a very high score or a very low score – it is simply there to provide information.

The benefit to the pupils of this type of intervention is that individually they have some information about their own speed, strength, stamina etc. and should they choose to do so can work to improve this over time improving their health and wellbeing. It also makes Maths/Numeracy relevant to day to day activities. Benefit to both primary and secondary school is that pupils are fully engaged with the activity as the classroom becomes “real� to them individually and they quickly learn how to sort and analyse what the data shows. The intervention also provides a real context for transition to secondary school learning. This pilot can then extend to cover ICT by inputting the information from paper into a software package and generating a visual presentation should school wish to build this in at a later date.

S2 Masterclasses in Science and Physical Education There are a number of masterclasses offered to S2 pupils as a means of delivering broad, general education linked to particular subject areas in a more creative way. Each masterclass runs over 13 weeks and the pupils have the opportunity to select a maximum of 3 masterclasses in different areas over the academic session.

Two of the areas, science and physical education, have developed their offer in conjunction with Dundee Academy of Sport. Cycling was selected as the medium to deliver various aspects of science. Fitness testing is an integral part of the physical education offering.

Within both of these masterclasses pupils are developing skills that are transferrable to any working environment due to the mix of practical skills, problem solving and working with others. They are given the opportunity to use scientific equipment that is not usually available within the school classroom and while learning in both areas they are also being encouraged to recognise the benefits of physical activity to their health and wellbeing.

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Cycling encourages greater understanding of all science subjects but particularly physics and biology.

Pupils, working in groups, are challenged to design and trial their own circuit which needs to incorporate various design features and obstacles to be overcome. The design which works best is selected for all to try out. All groups participate in setting out the circuit in the school grounds. By the final lesson pupils can see the effects of the science they have been learning about particularly in terms of aerodynamics, forces, gearing etc. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on their learning using a weekly log.

This skill can be further developed as pupils move through the different year groups and is of value for pupils moving into college, university or the world of work.

Both school and community benefit from the delivery of masterclasses as it enables pupils to get a different appreciation of a subject while developing skills that will be useful in either the community or in business at a future time. All pupils who participate in either of these two masterclasses are presented with a certificate from Dundee Academy of Sport endorsed by both Abertay University and Dundee and Angus College that outlines the knowledge and skills covered within the master class. In addition, this session, one of the groups have also met the STEM criteria to achieve the Bronze Crest Award.

S2-S3 – Career pathways and subject choices The school recognises that having to make choices of subjects to study towards the end of S2 is a considerable undertaking for some pupils and through lack of understanding of where they might potentially go when they finish school, sometimes choices are not made for the right reasons. In an effort to assist pupils and parents in this choice, the school asked Dundee Academy of Sport to deliver an input to S2 pupils whereby pupils could begin to appreciate the link between certain subjects and the career pathways and the opportunities that continuing to study through college, university or modern apprenticeships. This very much supports the ethos in the school of nurturing achievements having identified potential barriers to learning.

The impact on pupils was immediate as they undertook this session around 2-3 weeks before having to finalise their subject choices for third year. They were encouraged to set personal goals and to work out the best way of achieving them as well as being introduced to the Skills Development Scotland website and The World of Work facility within this.

The school also benefits through increased dialogue with pupils and parents about future opportunities available through making particular choices. If pupils have made choices through increased knowledge they are more likely to be engaged in their learning within the classroom which it is anticipated will result in continued improved attainment.

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S4 – Study Skills, dealing with exam stress and exam technique S4 is often the first occasion in secondary school where some pupils sit an exam-style assessment and for a number of them, particularly if they are lacking in confidence, this can be a difficult time.

While school staff do discuss coping mechanisms with pupils to help them at exam times, the school decided to introduce an external element for pupils who felt they might benefit from this.

Staff from Dundee Academy of Sport delivered a range of strategies that enabled pupils to try out some simple relaxation techniques that could be transferred to the exam room without being obtrusive to other pupils, nor drawing attention to themselves.

Pupils who attended the sessions were able to plan a personal study plan as a result of the input and were encouraged to recognise the benefit both mentally and physically to taking some form of exercise as a break to their studies. This could simply be a brisk 10 minute walk to help clear their mind and to energise them prior to further study. This potentially will support achievement and give pupils greater self confidence in stressful situations.

S5/6 – Aim High Event During the senior phase, staff aim to provide pupils with as many chances as possible to find out about opportunities beyond school and to discuss with pupils and parents the various choices and things pupils need to consider when looking towards their future.

During forward planning for the session 15/16 timetable change in May/June 2015, senior leadership discussed with Dundee Academy of Sport ways of making these important discussions take on a different guise with a view to enthusing senior pupils and raising aspirations of what they might go on to do.

As a result of this partnership all S5/6 pupils were offered the opportunity to participate in an event called Aim High. Pupils were transported to the Gardyne Campus of Dundee and Angus College to be part of a morning designed to help them see the learning styles that might be adopted if they were to go to either college or university. This was devised around a growth mindset lecture entitled “Understanding Talent” delivered by one of the DAoS team and followed by a tutorial.

Pupils were split into groups and within the smaller tutorial group they were encouraged to participate in a discussion about the lecture topic and how it applied to them. This gave them the opportunity to voice their opinions in a different setting to school, and tutorials were also staffed by DAoS with teachers in the “audience”. Following on from the lecture/tutorial, pupils returned to the lecture theatre and participated in a short presentation of key points linked to applying to either college or university and the importance of their personal statements on application forms.

The morning’s activity was followed by pupils being allowed to choose lunch from the refectory servery and allowed to use the campus facilities in the same way as students did before returning to school for afternoon classes.

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This experience impacted on the pupils in that they could see that Dundee was relatively near Arbroath and that the journey was straightforward with the Gardyne campus being situated on a bus route from Arbroath. They had an experience of learning styles used in higher education and they could see facilities first hand while soaking up the atmosphere. The evaluation conducted following the event showed that 79% of the pupils felt the event had given them more confidence about being in a lecture at either college or university; 77% were more confident about participating in tutorials where they had to ask questions and express opinions; 65% said they were either quite likely or very likely to apply for a place at college in the next 2 years and 72% said the same regarding a place at university.

The impact in school was that a number of pupils returned and requested to change their course choices as they had found something they wanted to work towards. The potential impact will be an increase in the number of pupils achieving higher grades through continuing to study through S5 and S6 to gain entry to a course at college or university. This route will give opportunities to further develop transferable skills that will enhance the workforce in the future.

The success of this event has resulted in a further opportunity late in this academic year where S5 pupils will attend an Aim High event in Gardyne Campus, Dundee and Angus College, while S6 pupils will be invited to an Aim High event with a different content at Abertay University.

Statistics The range of creative interventions across the school curriculum in conjunction with Dundee Academy of Sport can be evidenced from the statistics gathered by the DAoS project. To date in session 2015/2016 DAoS have interacted with 512 pupils in the course of 25 individual sessions. In session 2014/2015, 1514 pupils had the opportunity to interact through 64 different lessons and in the initial partnership year 201 pupils attended 9 different sessions.

By offering the types of creative learning opportunities described in this nomination, senior leadership and the staff team at Arbroath Academy are adopting a holistic approach to learning experiences for their pupils which over time will raise the profile of Arbroath Academy within the local community and provide employers of the future with young people who can and will make the most of themselves in the world of work.

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We have worked with pupils from the following schools: Aberhill Primary Alyth Primary Ancrum Road Primary Andover Primary Arbroath Academy Ardler Primary Balcurvie Primary Baldragon Academy Bulumbie Primary Beath High Birkhill Primary Blackness Road Primary Blairgowrie High School Blairhall Primary Braeview Academy Brechin High School Buckhaven High School Burrleton Primary Camperdown Primary Claypotts Castle Primary Clepington Primary Coupar Angus Primary Craigie High School Craigiebarns Primary Craigowl Primary Denbeath Primary Dens Road Primary Downfield Primary Eastern Primary Edzell Primary Ferryden Primary Fintry Primary

Froickheim Primary Glebelands Primary Glenleven Primary Glenwood Gowriehill Primary Grove Academy Harris Academy Hayshead Primary Hillside Primary Inverkeilor Primary Inzievar Primary Kettins Primary Kingspark School Kirkland High Kirkmichael Primary Lethnot Primary Lochgelly High School Lochside Primary Longhaugh Primary Luncarty Primary Maisondieu Primary Meigle Primary Menzieshill High Methillhill Primary Mill of Mains Primary Mountfleurie Primary Monifieth High School Morgan Academy Newhill Primary Newport Primary Our Lady’s Primary Rattray Primary

Forthill Primary

Rosebank Primary

Foulford Primary

Rowantree Primary

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Sidlawview Primary SS Peter & Pauls Primary St Andrews Primary St Clements Primary St Fergus Primary St Johns High School St Josephs Primary St Lukes & St Matthews Primary St Marys Primary St Ninians Primary St Pauls High School St Pius Primary

St Thomas Primary St Vincents Primary Stone of Calley Primary Stracathro Primary Straloch Primary Tarfside Primary Victoria Park Primary Viewforth Primary Wardykes Primary Websters High School Whitehills Primary Woodmill High School

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We are grateful to the following organisations for their support to the Dundee Academy of Sport project:

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www.dundeeacademyofsport.com Email: dundeeacademyofsport@abertay.ac.uk @DunAcadofSport

DUNDEE ACADEMY OF SPORT