KS2 Active Enrichment Festival

Context, Intent and Target Group

Background Information

I wanted to create an opportunity for those pupils who felt like representing their school at a sports event was something that wasn't possible for them or an opportunity they would enjoy. 

We are lucky within our borough to have some very competitive sports schools but many of our schools are smaller, one form entry schools, who often don't attend events for fear of their pupils being overwhelmed and underprepared.

What was the aim of work?

To provide an opportunity for those pupils who don't have a positive relationship with school sport and being active to come together and try new sports activities and be part of a wider borough event whilst having fun.

Which outcome(s) did it focus on?

• 2. To ensure all competition has a clear intent and creates positive experiences based on the motivation, competence and confidence of the young people that need our support the most
• 4. To support the personal development of targeted young people through youth engagement and leadership
• 5. To advocate and engage key stakeholders on the value of School Games to support local provision and improve the experience for young people and their families

Which expectation(s) did it meet?

• Using the development plan to show how community connections will be made for young people to continue their participation.
• Using the events calendar to upload a termly offer of events and activities with a clear intent, updated once each term.
• Using local insight and youth engagement to identify young people and schools that would most benefit from a targeted School Games offer.
• Developing a case study to show where you have made the most impact against local priorities, and through effective storytelling share your learning locally and nationally.
• Developing strategies to improve knowledge and understanding of the School Games for key stakeholders.
• Work with schools to maintain and grow their active engagement in School Games.
• Identify schools that are not engaged and developing strategies to improve this.
• Work intensively with a minimum of two low engagement schools to improve their understanding, engagement and access of the School Games offer.
• Co-design and deliver a broad and balanced School Games offer that is informed by insight and youth engagement and embeds positive experiences. It is expected that an SGO will facilitate a minimum of 12 targeted inter competitions/events/festivals with clear intent.
• Engage in county, regional and national networking by the Youth Sport Trust. This includes face-to-face and virtual support, Development Coach engagement, monthly updates and your termly review of your development plan.
• New SGOs are required to attend a national virtual and face-to-face induction during your first year of being appointed (ideally within your first term) and engage with your Development Coach.

Community links

• Community sports clubs
• Headteacher group
• SEND leads / SENCO

Intent

The main intent was to engage with many of our schools who were looking for a more gentle approach to engaging with the School Games for their less active pupils and those who needed to create a more positive relationship with physical activity.

I wanted to showcase sports that are not offered on the mainstream school curriculum and those activities that offered a sense of fun and didn't appear competitive to the children.

I was very direct with schools that this was an opportunity only for those pupils who had never previously attended a sports event and I asked them to liaise internally with their SENCOs to ensure that this event was inclusive for all.   

Target group

• Boys
• Girls
• Primary Schools
• Pupil Premium
• SEND
• A cognitive disability (e.g. problems thinking or remembering)
• A mental health or emotional disability (e.g. problems with mood)
• A communication or social relationships disability (e.g. autism, Asperger's, ADHD)
• Specific Year Group
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• Targeted Groups of Young People

Aligns to Schools Games Intents of:

• Widening the competition environment to develop character and life skills
• Adding fun elements to engage new audiences
• Adapting the format to increase motivation
• Considering age or maturity levels to support fair competition and foster social connections

Implementation

The activities that we delivered were: circus skills, soft archery, dance/cheerleading, ultimate frisbee, double dutch skipping, speed stacking & silly fun games.

I worked with local community sports groups & clubs and the local authority group Achieving for Children to ensure that we fostered as many local connections as possible.

I held the event at the local sports stadium - the Weir Archer Stadium which was easily accessible, had plenty of space to run all the different activities and plenty of free parking. 

Impact

150 pupils from 10 local schools attended on the day. Feedback from the young children and the schools was extremely good with them all commenting positively on the range of sports offered and the fun and engaging format. Children who had previously struggled to engage with others were helping and encouraging each other. Many commented that they had never been on a mini bus before, let alone attended a sports event and couldn't believe that this was something they had been selected for.  

Challenges

Using an outdoor facility is always a challenge and we had extremely warm weather on the day but the children particularly enjoyed the water fun event as a result. We made full use of the shade provided in the stands and had small water mini breaks between rotations.

It is still very hard for some schools to release teachers from school to support events and the cost of travel is still an ongoing issue. This is a harder issue to resolve and continues to be a challenge.

Sustainability

Many of the schools have already asked that this be an annual event as well as wanting to engage with the clubs and providers who supported the event on the day. All of the partners on the day have expressed an interest in delivering this event again next year. 

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