A group of lucky Fraserburgh youngsters were Pittodrie VIPs for the day as a reward for their efforts in school.
The Fraserburgh Academy pupils were given a tour of the stadium, where they met players and members of staff.
The Pittodrie visit was the culmination of an inspired literacy project started by the school’s librarian, Emma Thompson.
“One day there was a pupil kicking a football around in the library, and I couldn’t get it off him,” said Emma.
“And I thought, what do I do?
“And then I thought, actually, what can I do with pupils who really like football but find it difficult to relate to school?
“With the help of the PE teachers, I got a list of 30 names of pupils who were mad about football but struggled with their reading or their engagement with school.
“We limited it to S1 to S3, and whittled it down to a group of 20. Seventeen of those stayed to the end of the project and went to Pittodrie.”
Bestselling author’s Fraserburgh Academy visit
Fraserburgh Academy was awarded funding for the project in January by the Scottish Library and Information Council.
Since then, the ‘Widening the Pitch’ project has seen the group improve their reading through the medium of football.
The school library has significantly expanded its football non-fiction book collection.
Books by brothers Matt and Tom Oldfield – which profile football stars such as Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland – have proven particularly popular.
Excitement was therefore high when one half of the writing duo, Matt, turned up at Fraserburgh Academy in May.
He gave a talk on football and reading to the kids, and signed a copy of his book on Marcus Rashford for each of the group to take home.
Pupils interviewed star Fraserburgh FC midfielder
The football-daft youngsters also took a trip to Fraserburgh FC, where they got a tour of the club’s Bellslea Park ground.
While at Bellslea, they met and interviewed Fraserburgh FC midfielder Logan Watt, himself a former Fraserburgh Academy pupil.
The group recorded the interview using a podcasting app and wrote it up as an article, learning about sports journalism.
The weekly sessions proved more and more popular as the year progressed. So what did they do during them?
“We always start with a kickabout,” said Emma.
“Then we do reading out loud from a book. The one we’ve been working on is Matt and Tom Oldfield’s book about Marcus Rashford.
“We have a break, and then we do an activity related to what they’ve been reading. For example, we read a chapter about Rashford’s relationship with his brother.
“We then did an activity about working together – we put everyone in pairs and tied their hands together, and they had to play football like that. They soon learned about the need to work together!
“Another chapter was about when Rashford took a penalty against Paris Saint Germain in 2019.
“So we did a writing exercise on tips for handling stressful or high-pressure situations.”
‘There were some tough nuts to crack’
Emma said the project has transformed the kids’ reading and writing skills.
“There were some tough nuts to crack in the group.
“One boy had never read a book before in his life. By the end of the project he was working his way through the entire series of the Oldfield brothers’ football books.
“It’s really very good for their confidence.
“There were four girls in the group, who were really into football but felt it was a male-dominated sport and weren’t particularly into the playing side of it.
“Through the project, and particularly things like interviewing the Fraserburgh FC player for a podcast, they learned that there are other ways to get involved in football. For example writing about it.”
The kids’ excitement levels reached fever pitch as the project’s climax neared – a trip to Aberdeen FC and Pittodrie Stadium.
‘Please can we meet Duk!’
Pupils met members of staff and players on the women’s team.
They also enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium and got to ask questions.
“I think it was good that they met some of the women players,” said Emma, “because part of the project has been about overcoming barriers, whether dyslexia or diversity.
“And it was great for them to meet non-playing staff members, to show them that there are other careers in football beyond playing.
“Excitement levels were very high in the weeks leading up to it.
“They were saying ‘please can we meet Duk?’ And I was like ‘I can’t control that, he might be very busy’.
“They were very hyped about it. Even going to Fraserburgh FC they thought was amazing, so Pittodrie was something else.
“Some of these kids have faced barriers and never had anyone who could take them to a football stadium in real life. They’d only seen it on TV.
“So this was really the opportunity of a lifetime for them.”
Conversation