Greater Manchester School Games changes to support more young people to get moving

By GreaterSport | 27 September 2021 | TAGS: Children and young people, School Games, School

What is the School Games? 

The School Games seeks to put physical activity and competitive sport at the heart of school life and provide more young people with the opportunity to be physically active, to compete and achieve their personal best.   

It aims to provide every child with a positive experience in an environment where the young person’s motivation, competence and confidence are at the centre of the provision. 

When we refer to the word ‘competition’ we are not simply referring to the highest level of competition for the higher ability pupils. 

What does that mean for Greater Manchester School Games programme and the young people of GM?  

In the academic year 2021-2022 the Greater Manchester School Games will work differently to how it has over the last 10 years. The changes have been made in line with direction from the Youth Sport Trust and the funder Sport England.  

 GreaterSport are School Games organisers are committed to ensuring that we allow all young people in Greater Manchester the opportunity to experience the School Games in a way that suits them and more importantly fosters and inspires them through positive experiences so they stay active beyond their school sporting experiences.  

In order to do this the Greater Manchester programme will focus around the following four main outcomes:   

• Create positive experiences to ensure physical activity and competition provision  is designed to reflect the motivation, competence and confidence of young people, ensuring it has clear intent with a focus on those young people who need the intervention most. 
• Have a clear focus on secondary and in particular transition points in education. 
• Work to engage young people in Alternative Provision settings to engage them in the School Games programme.   
• Work with Young People in Special Educational Settings to engage them in the School Games programme.   

 These outcomes have been identified through national directive and insight as well as Greater Manchester intelligence that indicates that young people from these cohorts may not have had as many opportunities to experience the school games or positive experience in school sport and physical activity before.  

Going forwards, the Greater Manchester School Games programme aims to encourage ALL young people to achieve their personal best whilst supporting the wider development of young people. By instilling the School Games Values of Passion, Self-Belief, Honesty, Determination, Respect and Teamwork it supports schools to achieve their broader whole school objectives.   

For more information on the Greater Manchester School Games please click here.