In Greater Manchester, the traditional model of delivering school sport and competition has evolved. The new approach is ensuring that more children and young people are experiencing the enjoyment as well as the value of taking part in sport and physical activity.
Across the academic year, Greater Manchester Moving funded School Games Organisers (SGOs) to provide opportunities for children and young people facing the biggest inequalities in their borough. Shifting their focus from mass-participation events to highly intentional, inclusive opportunities.
In line with the “School Games Pledge: Tackling Inequalities,” these localised opportunities are reaching young people who have historically been excluded from taking part in physical activity, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), in pupil referral units, Alternative Provision (AP) and those struggling with the transition to secondary school.
SGOs from six of the ten boroughs across the region designed initiatives that addressed specific local data and insight, such as the sharp drop-off in activity levels during Key Stage 2 or the emotional barriers faced by Year 7 students transitioning into secondary school.
From Indoor Climbing, Crown green bowls, Para laser run, Padel and Glow dodgeball, the offers were often non-traditional but the intent with every opportunity was always clear. This was key to engaging and ensuring a positive experience for all the children and young people involved.
Secondary Transition
Facilitating Seamless Transitions: The transition from primary to secondary school is a critical stage where physical activity levels often plummet. In Bury and Trafford, SGOs used the “Transition Festival” model to support Year 7 students identified as struggling to settle. By using “level-playing-field” activities like BMX, skateboarding, and freestyle gymnastics, the programs broke down social barriers.
The Impact: Students from nurture groups and those on the periphery of their peer groups successfully integrated into traditional forms. Participants reported a significant reduction in school-related stress and a newfound sense of belonging.
SEND
Overcoming Sensory and Psychological Barriers: For students with SEND and those from low-income backgrounds, traditional indoor sports halls can be intimidating or inaccessible.
Bolton’s “Determination Festival” and Outdoor Bowls: These initiatives moved activities outdoors to accommodate sensory needs. The focus shifted from winning medals to personal breakthroughs, exemplified by a student with a fear of heights completing a single pole climb – leaving both his teacher and pupil visibly emotional.
Manchester’s Inclusion Offer: By implementing a “lending model” for Para Laser Run equipment and providing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers, Manchester has ensured that over 1,500 students with additional needs have sustainable access to inclusive sport.
Tameside’s Glow Dodgeball Offer: Improving inclusion and sustainability by purchasing portable UV equipment to host “Glow Dodgeball” events directly on school sites, specifically targeting students with SEND and mobility issues who face transportation barriers. Providing a familiar, sensory-friendly environment for pupils who haven’t previously engaged with the School Games.
Leadership and Health
The Manchester Health Ambassador Pilot targeted schools in high-deprivation areas to tackle health inequalities at the root, utilising Key Stage 2 students as “Health Ambassadors,” who then delivered weekly after-school clubs for younger pupils. This peer-led approach shifted the school culture, turning students who previously disliked PE into vocal leaders and advocates of physical activity.
Increasing activity levels and skills to support wider holistic development
Data-Driven Sport Selection in Stockport: local data showed a sharp decline in activity levels for children aged 8–9. In response, SGOs introduced a Padel Project. This “new” sport removed the stigma of past failures in traditional sports, leading to rapid improvements in coordination and confidence that translated directly back into the classroom and the wider PE curriculum.
Some key learnings from all the opportunities.
- Remove the “Fear of Judgment”: Using non-traditional sports (Padel, BMX, Laser Run) levels the playing field; few children have pre-existing expertise or a history of “failure” associated with them.
- Prioritise Emotional Outcomes: Success should be measured by “pride,” “friendship,” and “reduced stress” rather than just attendance numbers or scorelines.
- Sustainability Through Upskilling: Manchester’s CPD and equipment-lending model proves that upskilling school staff is more effective for long-term participation than one-off external events.
- Family Engagement: Projects like the Stockport Padel and Bolton Bowls engaged families directly, creating vital “club links” and encouraging the Chief Medical Officer’s recommended 60 active minutes outside of the school gates.
The Greater Manchester Moving fund has proven that targeted, SGO-led interventions are a powerful tool for tackling inequalities.
It reaffirmed the need to not just deliver opportunities but deliver with intent. GM moving are continuing to work with the GM SGO’s to apply these learnings to future ways of working, ensuring that opportunities are data and insight led, and that they prioritise not just the physical but also the emotional and social wellbeing of young people.
