What is the School Games?
The School Games forms a key part of the Government programme to deliver a meaningful sporting legacy for the London 2012 Olympics. It is supported by the Department of Education, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the Department of Health and funded by Sport England, through the National Lottery. The focus of the School Games will be to engage and enthuse more young people than ever before to participate in high quality meaningful school competition, supporting them in achieving their own personal best in sport and in life.
The School Games aims to do the following:
- Build on existing practices both to provide opportunities for those not currently engaged in competitive sport, and provide an appropriate pathway for all young people to achieve their potential.
- Provide access to a range of alternative, modified and traditional competition formats helping schools offer new and exciting options to young people.
- Maximise the impact of competitive school sport on young people and schools, in developing personal skills and contributing to school ethos.
- Offer opportunities for young people to develop leadership skills and express citizenship through volunteer roles such as officials and team managers.
- Complement other initiatives in schools which encourage a wide range of young people to participate in sport, such as Change4Life sports clubs.
Through four levels of competitive sport, young people have the opportunity to get involved, have fun, challenge themselves, progress and ultimately compete against the very best talent.
The School Games is supported by a network of School Games Organisers (SGOs) and Teacher Release (TR) posts. At the same time schools are offered a range of opportunities to use the excitement and potential of the School Games to drive educational activities, cross-curricular learning, citizenship and improved personal skills.