Sports and Outdoor Education Unit
City of Edinburgh Council
New Parliament House
Building 1, Room 5
5 - 7 Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH7 5BL
Tel: 0131 550 6838
Fax: 0131 556 4254
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Co-ordinators:
My name is Mel Coutts, I am working with pupils and staff in the Queensferry Active School cluster where I will build on an already wide-ranging variety of activities. In my own time I play a lot of volleyball. I play for Team Edinburgh which is based at Queensferry and for England. I also enjoy cycling and tennis. I enjoy eating all kids of spicy food - as long as it’s healthy of course!
My name is Fiona Damen, I have been working with the St. Thomas of Aquins and James Gillespie's Clusters. We have organised Health Weeks at Bruntsfield and St. Mark's Primary Schools. The children in the clusters have been involved in Basketball, Rugby, Dance, Mini-Tennis, Athletics, Girls' Football and Club Golf. In my own time I love running, biking, skiing and dancing! I love to watch rugby! My favourite food is pizza and salad.
My name is Ellie Forgan and I am the Active Schools Coordinator for the Liberton and Gracemount Cluster. In the next year I hope to start a number of after school clubs in all 5 of my schools including, Capoeira(which is a Brazilian martial art based on music and movement), Girls football, Dance and Body Combat/Jam. In partnership with the play development worker in the area we hope to train up the majority of P6/7 to take the lead in playground games for the early years. I enjoy all sports, in particular swimming and football. My favourite football team is Dunfermline and I think that's more than you need to know!!
My name is Jen Neil-Maclachlan. I have am based at Balerno Community High School and am working with pupils and staff in the Currie and Balerno clusters. Popular activities in this area are rugby and swimming due to local facilities. My own sport is fencing and I love taking part in lots of other activities too. My favorite treat is Thorntons chocolates!
My name is Lorna Norman and I am the Active Schools Co-ordinator for the Firrhill cluster of schools. I have only recently started working with my schools and hope to continue the following activities: tennis, judo and dance, using the new sports facilities at Firrhill High school.
I enjoy cycling, basketball, football, music, drinking red cola (naughty!) and eating pineapple!
My name is Colin McMillan and I am the Active Schools Co-ordinator for the Portobello cluster. Having started work in Portobello around 2 months ago, I have been working closely with each school to find out which fun activities to take forward. Among other things I hope to give everyone the chance to do Basketball, Dance and Rugby, which are successful activities in the Portobello area! In my own time I like long-distance running (particularly marathons) and football. I also like golf, but it is gets really frustrating sometimes!
I like all sports, bananas, U2 & talking. I dislike traffic jams, brussel sprouts, Take That & smoking!
Role – To aid the main stream co-ordinators in the inclusion of children with physical disabilities and learning difficulties in their active schools programmes. I also work in partnership with Sean Fallon to carry out the active schools role within the SEN schools in the city.
History - I left school at Christmas 1987 to join the Army as a junior leader where I spent just short of eleven years. Sport and exercise play a major part of military life and this is where I started to develop my understanding of just how important and beneficial it is to maintain a good standard of basic fitness.
After a motorcycle accident in May 1997 I was left a T4 paraplegic and discharged from the Army in January 1999.
I started playing wheelchair rugby in 2000, which lead to me doing a sport coaching degree. I started by doing an HNC in sports coaching with sport development at West Lothian College then an HND in the same at Falkirk College. I finished by doing my degree in sport coaching at Bell College in Hamilton.
Hobbies – I play and coach wheelchair rugby for the Scottish Wildcats, I also try and train a couple of times a week, combination of track work and circuit training. This is often done with one of the other players who is currently in the GB squad. The rest of my spare time is spent trying to keep up with Angus my two and a half-year-old son.
Favourite food – T-bone steak (the bigger the better) new potatoes and a veg.
My name is Peter Syme, I am job sharing with Fiona in the St Thomas and James Gillespie's Clusters. I coached Primary School children a variety of sports for many years in my capacity as a Primary School Teacher. I particularly enjoyed coaching Rugby, Hockey, Cricket and Athletics. I would like to see cricket having a greater prominence in schools, it is an excellent sport which can be enjoyed by children of all ages and abilities. With Scotland qualifying for the World Cup in the Caribbean, now could be the time to push the sport!
Hi there, my name is Nicky Wheatley I am the Active Schools Co-ordinator for the Trinity and Drummond cluster primary schools. I have been working with teachers, parents and children in my schools over the last year to offer a wider variety of activities to encourage everyone to get more active more often. We have been doing Judo with P1/2s, Kidfit sessions with P3, 4, 5s and also Basketball for P6/7s. Some schools have even trained P5/6s to become playground leaders to help younger kids play new games and make new friends.
I like lots of activities from cycling to my favourite sport of hockey which I play most weekends. Being involved in activities has given me the opportunity to experience new things such as travelling to Europe, and making new friends, it has also enabled me to get a job doing something I love, sports and activities.
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