Who We Are
The School Games, which is funded by Sport England and delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, involves funded School Games Organisers (SGOs) at a local level and Active Partnerships at a county level working alongside us to create an annual programme of activity and support to help schools embed physical activity across the school day.
The School Games outcomes
The team delivering the School Games
- Schools: our schools are integral to the successful delivery of the School Games and we currently have more than 19,800 School Games registered schools delivering Intra-school events and engaging in Inter-school events, supporting children to make progress through their school careers, create opportunities which tackle inequalities and develop the physical literacy of their children.
- School Games Organisers: there are more than 450 SGOs who work across the country to support schools in their local area. SGOs have several key roles:
- to provide support to all schools to deliver 30 minutes of Physical Activity each day with signposting to a further 30 minutes outside of the school day.
- to coordinate appropriate competitive opportunities for young people from Key Stage 2-4, focusing on those who will most benefit from increasing their level of activity.
- to engage young people in their School Games offer through pupil voice, co-creation and by providing opportunities to lead activity as members of the workforce.
Schools can find out the contact details of their local SGO by registering with the School Games website or, if you already have an account, by clicking the 'Log in' button at the top of the page.
- Active Partnerships: these are groups of partners from across the county who help consider the county's strategic approach to the School Games and provide ongoing check and challenge. These groups will look and feel slightly different from county to county, and may be called something else locally.
Where we startedÂ
The School Games started in 2006 as a single annual multi-sport competition - what is today known as the School Games National Finals. In 2010, the School Games was expanded to include more localised competitions, from major county level events to smaller competitions within the same school. As part of this work, the Youth Sport Trust were funded by Sport England to work alongside the National Governing Bodies of sport (NGBs), assisting in the creation of a series of sport formats to help guide the future of school sport competitions. Over the years, the list of NGBs involved with the School Games has grown to 45, with everything from American Football to Wheelchair Basketball events currently taking place around the country.
In response to the COVID pandemic, the School Games has increasingly supported those who would benefit the most from increasing the amount of physical activity they take part in. This has meant a shift from competitions for those already active to providing a range of bespoke opportunities for the least active communities in their area. Since 2010, the School Games has offered 13.4 million* participation opportunities for young people, and it is our vision that the Games will continue to make a clear and meaningful difference to the lives of young people for many years to come.