Active Schools is a key element of the Scottish Government drive to get Scotland more active; a commitment outlined in the National Physical Activity Strategy, Let's Make Scotland More Active. The Strategy states that one third of children fail to meet the recommended one hour of physical activity per day.

Active Schools is co-ordinated at a national level by sportscotland with the key aim of offering all children and young people the opportunities and motivation to adopt active, healthy lifestyles now and into adulthood.

This aim will be delivered through achieving the outcomes detailed below:

1. Building a sustainable volunteer network and providing an appropriate volunteering infrastructure for Active Schools within the school and wider community
2. Providing opportunities for all children and young people to participate in physical activity & sport and enabling the creation of pathways from the school to the wider community
3. Increasing participation amongst "hard to reach groups" by adopting a targeted approach towards:

• girls and young women
• children and young people with a disability
• children and young people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds
• children and young people in areas of socio-economic disadvantage (regeneration/SIMD areas)*
• children and young people not currently involved in physical activity and sport

Dumfries and Galloway currently have fourteen full time Active Schools Co-ordinators in place to cover all Primary and Secondary Schools in the region with the role of fulfilling the targets above.

Each Active Schools Co-ordinator works in partnership with a cluster of schools and the wider community to draw together local resources to increase physical activity levels for children and young people.

By working with community organisations as well as schools we can give school-aged children the tools, motivation, and opportunities to be more active throughout their school years and into adulthood. These opportunities are available before, during, and after school, as well as in the wider community.