Stirling Council ran 167,103 participant sessions last year (2017/18), with 7,246 individual children and young people taking part in a whole range of sports and physical activities.
Nationally, Active Schools is performing at an all-time high, delivering 7.3 million participant sessions last year - an increase of six per cent from the previous year.
A two per cent rise in the overall percentage of the school roll taking part in Active Schools was also recorded nationally, with of 8,567 of activity sessions delivered in Stirling.
Councillor Susan McGill, Convener of the Children and Young People Committee, said: “It’s fantastic that more than half the pupils in Stirling are now participating in Active Schools and the diverse range of sporting activities on offer.
“We want to maximise the well-documented benefits of sport across our communities, and Active Schools is a vital pathway for our children to try new forms of physical activity.
“We’re delighted to be working with Active Stirling and sportscotland, and hope to see Active Schools continue to make a positive impact on young people in the future.”
Active Schools, one of sportscotland’s longest running flagship programmes, is designed to provide more and higher quality opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity before school, during lunchtime and after school.
Children and young people from right across Scotland have been able to participate in over 100 different activities ranging from football to dance and movement, delivered by a combination of volunteers, including pupils, and paid individuals.
Mel Young, Chair of sportscotland, said: “It’s really encouraging to see the continued growth in participation in Active Schools activities across the country.
“The success of Active Schools is the result of strong local partnerships between Active Schools teams, school staff, sports development teams in local authorities, regional managers from the governing bodies, and local sports clubs.
“By working together, we can deliver more and better opportunities for young people of all abilities to take part in sport as these latest figures show.
“It is also rewarding to see the impact of programmes like Active Schools on the lives of the young people who take part, increasing their confidence and motivating them to continue an active lifestyle in the future.”
Developing effective pathways between schools and sports clubs in the local community is also a priority of the scheme, and this year schools in Stirling identified 506 examples of links being reported including extra-curricular links and holiday programmes.
Delivered in partnership with all 32 local authorities in primary, secondary and ASN schools, the impact of Active Schools goes beyond the numbers, with a recent independent survey commissioned by sportscotland providing strong evidence that programmes like this are making a difference to people’s lives.
The survey of over 4000 school pupils showed that 98 per cent of Active Schools participants feel healthier thanks to their involvement in the activities, while 94 per cent were motivated to be more active in the future and 92 per cent said they felt more confident.
Pictured is Mel Young, Chair of Sportscotland.