Mearns Gymnastics Club blazing a local trail with their ASN classes
Mearns Gymnastics Club’s gymnastics sessions for children with additional support needs has received rave reviews from parents. One mum wishes her son could attend them every day.
The club runs Monday night classes for primary and secondary age children at Isobel Mair School on the outskirts of Newton Mearns. These sessions provide the children with the chance to burn off their energy and learn some gymnastics skills, all with the help of one-to-one support.
How the classes began
The classes came about through desire of one parent to find an opportunity for her son to get involved in the sport, in an environment that would suit his needs. Natalie Chateau searched for options, but she couldn’t find a good fit in East Renfrewshire. So she approached Mearns about the possibility of setting up a class.
A collaboration with the charity Super Kids, and an accepted funding application to Scottish Gymnastics, allowed the club to start running these sessions. They have been transformative for parents like Natalie, and her son, Jack, who has started to tick off milestones that his mum thought he may never do because of his condition.
“Jack is diagnosed autistic and he has ADHD. So he’s very energetic, and I’m always looking for ways to burn his energy,” she said. “He likes climbing, he likes balance beams; he likes doing all kinds of different things. Running, jumping – that kind of stuff.
“There was nothing really out there for him like that, tailored to his needs. He needs one-to-one as he’s non-verbal, so he can’t talk, and that’s what Mearns has done for him.
“I’ve found it so good for him for the benefits of sleeping. He doesn’t sleep very well but when he has a class here he sleeps better. He has been coming home, doing forward rolls, headstands – things that I never thought he could do. But he’s doing them after the Monday night class.
“To burn of his energy, there was nothing like it. Now we’ve got it, it’s helping massively. I just wish we could do it every night.”
Coaches love the ASN classes
Everybody from Mearns who help to run the classes really enjoys their Monday nights. Marcella Traill, the lead coach of the sessions, said: “With other classes, we have kids that maybe are autistic, have ADHD, are deaf, but these classes are different.”
“They’re not about coming here to teach them gymnastics. It’s about [the children] having fun, and it is really rewarding. It’s not going into the school or the gym to teach. It is getting to know the kids on a deeper level than you would with a class of 20 kids.”
Mearns’ head coach Jacqui Wilson echoed her colleague’s words. “[The coaches] say that this is their favourite time of the week – their favourite class to deliver. I think that’s down to the time they have with the children.”
The gym’s motivation to be a trailblazer in their area is simple. “It’s just another opportunity for children to do gymnastics, which is what we’re trying to create: a club that has got something for everybody,” Wilson stated.
“What the coaches are doing in the class is not so much about perfection and progress. It’s more about building confidence, building enjoyment, body confidence, social awareness and having fun in a safe, supportive space that [the children] can have fun in.”