Since the beginning of lockdown, primary pupils in their thousands have been keeping fit with fitness and food fanatic Joe Wicks. For half an hour each morning, he has been encouraging children - and their families - to get fit and stay active.
On the Isle of Skye, primary pupils, too, have benefited from fitness lessons being streamed into their homes. But it’s not Joe Wicks that they follow: it is City of Glasgow College student Ruth Gordon - who not only delivers engaging videos but also records her lessons in Gaelic.
On the Isle of Skye, many students receive Gaelic-medium education, and the same applies to thousands of children at Gaelic schools across the country. While most can’t currently physically go into school due to the coronavirus pandemic, this has limited their exposure to the language. And that’s why Gordon’s videos are seen as so important: even if it’s just for 15 minutes a week, pupils are engaging with Gaelic.
“A lot of parents may only have a little bit of Gaelic - I was lucky that my mum spoke fluent Gaelic but my dad doesn’t speak a word of it. I know there are definitely people whose parents don’t speak Gaelic, so many pupils won’t be practising at home,” says Gordon.
“Primary 1 to Primary 4 is quite a crucial stage in the learning of the language, so as long as they are hearing it and as long as it’s being refreshed, they will be able to keep it up and keep it ticking over, at least. It’s like riding a bike - once you’ve learned it, you’ve learned it, and most kids have grown up with it on the island.”
Coronavirus fitness sessions that Joe Wicks would be proud of
Gordon, who is studying for a HND in fitness, health and exercise at City of Glasgow College, set up a fitness Instagram page, Miss_Fit_G_monthly, when she returned to the Isle of Skye after the college closed its campus. The aim was to utilise her skills and help others keep fit from home.
“Gyms were closing and I thought it was a great chance to help other people to keep up their fitness or begin to improve their fitness, so I started doing live fat-burning extreme workouts, which need no equipment and only take 20 minutes,” she says.
After seeing Gordon excel at producing the videos, her aunt - a teacher at Staffin Primary School, a Gaelic primary school on Skye - asked if she could produce Joe Wicks-style videos for primary pupils in the language.
The first video was uploaded on to the school portal and from there, the initiative grew. Other schools asked if they could share them, and BBC Alba, the Gaelic language channel, got in touch to interview Gordon. Now, five weeks after her first video, most of the Gaelic schools in Scotland are sharing Gordon’s videos.
She uploads a new video every Monday - and pupils (and their parents) are loving it.
“It’s a good way for the pupils to keep up with their Gaelic and their fitness at the same time. One of the parents messaged me last week to say that for her wee girl, it’s her homework to do it every week and she’s been really enjoying it. The mum said that every Sunday she’s asking when will the video be out, she’s really looking forward to it,” she says.
“It’s something that people are enjoying and people are sticking to and it does keep some sort of routine. I know parents are trying to do teaching from home so it does break up the day for them. It’s a 15-minute, follow-along video, so all they have to do is pop it on and then the children can get on with it. So it’s a little break for them.”
The videos include a range of different exercises from boxercise to yoga - and Gordon has made sure that they are truly accessible to all.
“For the first week, I did basic fitness and did ‘Simon Says’ in Gaelic. I wanted to keep things a bit more lighthearted and fun for the little ones. I’ve done boxercise, yoga, circuits, hurdles with towels, you know things that they wouldn’t get the chance to do in school. It’s about using things around the house, jumping around, getting them moving, keeping them active,” she says.
“None of the activities use fancy equipment - it’s always things that everyone would have around the house. All of them can be done in a very limited space, too.”
Stepping outside her comfort zone
The reach of the videos means that Gordon is now recognisable across the island by parents and pupils who see her every Monday - but it’s something she’s used to.
“I used to be a competitive swimmer and I was one of the only competitive swimmers on the island. That was many years ago, but I used to get interviewed and recognised for that. I loved seeing my hard work get recognised and over the past four or five years, I haven’t done anything outside my comfort zone so it’s been really nice to use my skill set and do these sessions,” she says.
The sessions aren’t just benefiting pupils and parents - but giving Gordon a real focus herself. She normally lives in Glasgow to attend college and has been back at her family home in Skye since the campus closed. Doing the Gaelic classes and workouts for adults on her Instagram page has kept her busy.
“I’ve been doing the classes and putting a lot of work and time into the Instagram page. It really has set me up into a good routine. I’ve been kept busy and so I haven’t really had a lot of time to sit and think about the whole situation,” she says.
Gordon has also been busy training and applying to compete to be named the best young personal trainer in the UK. The competition Fitness Trainer: Personal Trainer is run in partnership with WorldSkills and AoC Sport. She’s sent off her two-minute qualifying video and is now waiting to hear if she’s through to the regional competitions.
“It was something at the beginning I just kind of thought, ‘I’ll give that a go, see what it’s like,’ and then the more I’ve practised, the more I’ve loved it, she says.
“I really would like to progress on to the other levels and represent Scotland for that.”
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