Peterhead schoolkids ‘on the ball’ thanks to ground-breaking sports project

A groundbreaking Peterhead project is using the power of sport to help pupils improve their performance – in the classroom.

Buchanhaven Primary School is one of the first in the northeast town to pilot the innovative approach, bringing Peterhead FC player and ‘community coach’ Danny Strachan into the school.

As well as working on the schoolkids’ dribbling skills, club defender Danny spends time in the classroom every day, helping children who may be struggling to tackle schoolwork head on.

The results are impressive – a social impact study commissioned by the Peterhead Football Club Community Foundation, which kicked off the initiative, shows improved attendance for 45 percent of pupils working with a coach, and no instances of exclusion.

For one pupil, attendance improved by 45 percent.

“After Covid, it was a struggle to get a number of bairns back into the school,” explains Buchanhaven Primary head teacher Linda Strachan.

“Working with Danny has helped a lot. He is well known locally, he attended this school himself, and just the fact he is here is an incentive for a number of the children to come in.

“Getting the pupils outside and active is clearly a good thing, but likewise having Danny in the classroom working with a few specific children helps the pupils and the classroom teacher too.

“It is good to have a young, positive, male role model in the mix and it’s been a really positive experience for the school,” Linda concludes.

The project, known as the Partner School Programme, is just one of a number of initiatives set up by the community foundation which aims to use the power of sport and Peterhead FC to inspire the local community to live active, healthy, positive lives.

The school programme is supported by funding from sponsor Buchan Offshore Wind, which is planning a major floating offshore wind farm 75 km northeast of the Aberdeenshire coast.

Gavin Mundie, Chair of the Foundation says:

“We established the foundation to respond to local needs and very early on we saw an opportunity to help in local primary schools and this led to the Partner School Programme. We are so pleased with how it has gone our goal is now to find more sponsors to help expand to other primary schools in the area.”

The school programme in just one of a number of initiatives kick started by the foundation, with other activities including men and women’s wellness clubs, a community kitchen, a dementia support group and Buchan-Moor Bairns – an outdoor play space for pre-schoolers inside Peterhead FC grounds.

Clare Lavelle, Project Director at Buchan Offshore Wind, which supports the Partner School Programme says:

“This is such a worthwhile initiative which is having real and measurable impact on a number of young children who would otherwise struggle to attend and thrive at school. We are really proud to be supporting Danny and the other terrific coaches in this ongoing work.”

Danny Strachan says:

“It is great fun being able to teach some football skills to the boys and girls at the school and I am really pleased to see the positive impact it is having on many of the kids who have been finding it hard to come in.”