This week Cornwall won a national award for its School Games programme at the 2017 School Games summit at Telford International Centre. The 2017 Cornwall Schools Games programme delivers over 500 events in 32 sports for over 32,000 young people at a qualifying stage which represents 44% of young people within education. Over 6,000 children (9% of young people in education) then go on to represent their school in prestigious county finals.
The Cornwall School Games programme is delivered by the Cornwall Sports Partnership and four School Games Organisers in Cornwall from Mounts Bay, Penryn, Poltair and Callington Secondary Schools who all deliver an innovative high quality broad and varied programme to attract all young people to competitive school sport.
For the first time in 2017 the whole programme was sponsored by the University of Exeter which enabled further opportunities for less active young people to participate in physical literacy festivals. By utilising the Games values of Passion, Teamwork, Determination, Honesty, Respect and Self Belief young people who don’t usually engage in PE and School Sport are encouraged to be involved in the Games through a comprehensive cultural offer including creative writing and performing arts.
Clare Warburton from the Youth Sport Trust who are funded by Sport England to oversee the National School Games programme commented: “Cornwall’s provision is very much in the spirit of the new School Games vision and mission and is giving many young people across Cornwall the opportunity to experience high quality competition that inspires them to achieve their best and to stay involved in sport at whatever level. They have at the heart of what they do a child centred approach - which makes what they achieve at their County Final events even more impressive. Well done Cornwall!”
The Games in Cornwall and this recognition is very much down to a partnership approach where all schools, School Games Organisers (SGOs)and the County Sports Partnership all work together to grow, develop and sustain the games each year. Every year the games moves locations and in 2017 it was joint hosted by Launceston College and Budehaven Community School. The games will go back to the Penryn area in 2018 where it was piloted in 2011 before the London 2012 Olympics.
Rachel Knott the School Games lead from Cornwall Sports Partnership commented: “We work closely together to try and maximise opportunities for children in Cornwall and we are incredibly proud that Cornwall has won this award. A huge thank you must go to everyone involved included the four SGOs in Cornwall and our host venues from 2017 Launceston and Budehaven. We are all very excited to learn and develop further as a result and grow on this success to engage more young people in the School Games”
Emma Moore, School Games Organiser based at Poltair School in St Austell said “The County SGO’s are delighted to be recognised at a National Level, it is an absolute pleasure working with all the partners involved in driving Cornwall PE and School Sport and the School Games In The County. We are looking forward to the challenges and innovation that our trip to Endicott will bring and how we can implement some of these ideas throughout the County.”
The reward for winning this national award is that eight delegates from Cornwall will enrol on a Sport Management course looking into high quality events and in particular the USA model for school and college sports competition. As part of the course they will undertake a study tour to Boston in the USA and be hosted by Endicott College.
Deborah Swanton, Professor and Dean, School of Sport Science & Fitness Studies at Endicott College said: “Many congratulations to Cornwall for winning the LOC Award. We are delighted to work with them to further explore the possibilities of using sport to enhance the lives of young people. Through the module and study tour we are able to learn from each other and investigate best practices related to running high quality sporting events for schools to engage students of all ages and abilities and to increase participation. We are truly inspired by our work with the Youth Sport Trust and the module and study tour has provided an international platform to develop strategies and ideas to strengthen sport offerings and opportunities for young people.”
-End-
Editors notes:
If you require any further information, please contact Sarah Mageean at the Cornwall Sports Partnership on E: smageean@cornwall.gov.uk / T: 01872 323346
More about the School Games
The School Games, which is funded by Sport England and delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, is a government led programme designed to deliver competitive school sport to all young people.
The School Games consists of four unique types of competition:
- Intra-School Competition (Level 1)
- Local Inter-School Competition (Level 2)
- County Final (Level 3)
- School Games National Finals
A network of School Games Organisers (SGOs) and Local Organising Committees (LOCs) have worked alongside the Youth Sport Trust in delivering three distinct levels of competition since the Games' inception in 2010 - ranging from intra - inter school activity, in addition to the National Finals, which is supported by National Governing Bodies.
This network currently services in excess of 20,000 registered schools who compete across School Games' competitions
About Youth Sport Trust (YST)
With children and young people experiencing declining emotional health and wellbeing, increasing obesity levels and high youth unemployment, the mission of the Youth Sport Trust has never been more important.
There is overwhelming evidence to demonstrate the power that PE and school sport has to change young people’s lives; unlocking their potential, helping them to be healthy and happy, ultimately going on to lead successful lives and positively contribute to society.
Our unique solutions maximise the power of sport to grow develop young people, impacting on their wellbeing through physical literacy and character. The three principle elements of our mission to create a brighter future for young people include:
- Wellbeing
- Leadership
- Achievement
PE and sport delivered well is proven to impact positively on attainment and academic achievement. It can engage young people in learning and support the development of skills needed for success in and out of the classroom – communication, teamwork and self-management.
The work of Youth Sport Trust is much more extensive than just focusing on getting children into sport and we work across many areas, which can be categorised as: Inclusion, Achievement, Physical Education (PE), Sport and Health (including mental health).
