PEEBLES High School has been given the ultimate accolade for its promotion of sport.

The sportscotland Gold School Sport Award was presented to staff and pupils earlier this week.

The presentation is in recognition for innovation and achievement in delivering physical education and extra-curricular sport.

Stewart Harris, chief executive of sportscotland said: “I would like to congratulate all of the staff and pupils at Peebles High for putting quality physical education and school sport at the heart of the school. They should be proud of this fantastic achievement.

“We are building a world-class sporting system for everyone, and a crucial part of that is putting young people at the centre of our efforts. “Working with our partners in local authorities and governing bodies of sport, we are creating closer links between physical education, school sport and club sport, which benefits young people by providing more and better opportunities to take part in sport.” Peebles’ success brings the number of schools in Scotland with the Gold award to 35.

There are also 181 Silver and 65 Bronze.

The School Sport Award is a national initiative designed to encourage schools to continuously improve the quality and quantity of physical education and school sport opportunities.

They also encourage the sporting links between schools and the communities around them.

Peebles High PE teacher David Changleng told us: “We are absolutely delighted to be awarded The Sports Scotland Gold School Sport Award.

“The PE staff work incredibly hard to give all our pupils an opportunity to participate in a huge range of sports.

“We all believe that physical activity is important in the development of all our children.

“Core PE is at the heart of the Curriculum at Peebles High. Pupils who want to push themselves even further can take part in extra curricular sports with a Programme that is second to none in State Schools in Scotland.” Peebles High celebrated this prestigious award by winning the National Girls U17 Relay Title held in Glasgow last week.

Ailsa Innes, Eve Huxley, Anna Forsyth and Bryony Patterson ran a fantastic final to outrun Robert Gordon’s College and Hutcheson’s Grammar.

The U14 girls snatched a bronze finishing just behind George Watson’s and Hutcheson’s.

Finally the U15 girls finished 6th in their final which pushed Peebles High to the best state school position in Scotland just ahead of Williamwood High and Balfron High.

In the Annual School Sports day held on Tuesday, Cademuir House won the Relay Cup and Meldon House won the overall Championship.

To achieve a bronze or silver sportscotland School Sport Award, schools self assess their current practice.

However, to gain gold status an extensive external assessment is also carried out by an independent panel of experts.

Throughout the assessment process schools are encouraged to reflect on current practice and focus on continual improvement.

Support and guidance is available to help improve the quality and quantity of physical education, physical activity, and sport opportunities available to children and young people.