The started as an idea during my probation year at Falkirk’s Denny High School in 2015.Mylove forPE and physical activitystemmedfrom themany opportunitiesthat were afforded to mein my school years, and -as a dancer and cheerleader for many years -I wanted to provide the same experiences for my young people.
I began by introducingan extracurricular cheerleading club.This was a new activity to manystudents, but one that quickly became very popular. Cheerleading as a sport is renowned for its inclusivity ofall genders, abilities, maturation stages, body types and interests.
Peoplelove the team ethos required to succeed as a collective. In cheer,you are only as good as the person beside you, behind you, below you or above you; rhythm, trust, timing, control and athleticism are allnon-negotiablesin a quality team routine. The physical requirements of flyers, bases and tumblers are so different that every single person plays a key role.
It became clear to methat cheer wasbecoming increasingly popular in a number of like-minded local schools.I reached out to several teachers and began planning for a school-hosted cheerleading competition.The inaugural year involved five schools across four localauthorities. It was held at Denny High and was a huge success. I knew that the competition had the potential to grow further and started planning straight away for the following year. However,at that stage,I had no idea how big it would become.
Given my long-held love of dance and cheerleading, I have always been passionate about increasing personalisation and choice in schools for all young people.It has been so refreshing to see schools and individual departments embracing more divergent curricula in recent years, particularly in a creative and aesthetic (C and A) context: dance, gymnastics, trampolining and so on.
Cheerleading: spreading cheer in Scottish schools
In order to meet all benchmark outcomes, I was conscious that C and A pupils needed a team context to experience; for example, inclusion,responsibilities, leadership, respect and communication. I, therefore, introduced cheer and into our curriculumat Bo’ness Academy, also in Falkirk, which is where I secured apermanentjob asaPE teacher. The impactof cheer on both curricular and extracurricular engagement wasalmost instant: as extracurricular participation grew, uptake for certificated C and A PE increased.
Following three successful years, it became clear thatthe competitionhad become too big to host in a school. I approachedtheFalkirk Community Trust’sActive Schools team to see how theycould supportme. From 2018 thecompetition washeld at Grangemouth Sports Complex. Year upon year the competition grew both in numbers and performance quality, culminating in approximately800students attending from 23 schools across 15local authorities. (A huge thanksto Cameron, Fiona and the rest of the team instrumental in making it happen.)
Since starting the competition in 2015, both my professional and personal circumstances have changed. I am now a principal teacher as part of a fantastic pastoral support team atNewbattleHigh School in Midlothian,and also a mum to a fabulous one-year-old.
Cheer will always be a passion of mine but I knew I could no longer give the competition the attentionit requires to be run on the scale that it now operates at. However, this is not the end for the Scottish Schools Cheerleading Competition - I have handedover the event to two excellent colleagues. Moreinformation will be shared shortly on this but rest assured the competition isinverygood hands.
It is amazing to see how cheer has grown across Scotland and its schools in such a short space of time. I sign off from my own direct involvement in the national schools’ competition as a very proud teacher.
Caroline Millar is a principal teacher atNewbattle High School in Midliothian. She tweets
