School Games in Salford help children reach new heights

By Becky Robinson: School Games Organiser | 13 September 2024 | TAGS: GM School Games, Your School Games, Salford

GM Moving School Games – in partnership with Graystone Action Park and the SGOs from across Greater Manchester – hosted a festival of physical activity. Graystone Action Park welcomed pupils from ten Greater Manchester boroughs for a day of skateboarding, bouldering, scootering and freestyle gymnastics. These activities were designed to give the pupils positive experiences of physical activity and increase their confidence, determination and resilience – in turn supporting their transition into their new secondary school.

As an SGO, Becky recognised the value of providing these types of active opportunities for children and young people. She brought a group of school-identified pupils to the GM-organised festival and, after seeing the benefits, followed-up within the school setting and created local opportunities to help the pupils further grow in confidence and continue to engage in physical activities.

Developing initiatives based on a whole system approach

Becky is based in Salford and works primarily with local secondary schools from her SGO host site, Irlam and Cadishead Academy. “The school was keen to get involved in the School Games and make the most of GM’s facilities – but they didn’t have the staff to deliver it,” Becky explains. “I came on board to give pupils the chance to discover inclusive active opportunities in Greater Manchester, working with School Games leads at GM Moving and the GM SGO network to access to facilities and promote positive experiences through conversations and initiatives.”

Becky chose to focus on the Year 7 Determination Festival, which is designed to support children struggling to settle into secondary school. Becky, class tutors and the school’s SEND team put forward the pupils they felt would benefit the most. “They’re such a lovely group of children – and the ones who need a little nurturing,” says Becky. “They’re also not your typical sporty kids, but I could really see their potential to improve both their active abilities and their confidence.”

Using local facilities to expand opportunities

The Year 7 Determination Festival took place at Graystone Action Sports in Salford, a large facility offering activities including skateboarding, climbing and gymnastics. “The buzz around the whole event was amazing,” Becky says. “Some of the children had never had this kind of opportunity – many hadn’t even travelled on a minibus before. Naturally, they felt a little nervous at first – with one child feeling unable to take part at all. But Graystone Action Sports is such a great set-up with amazing staff that the children soon grew in confidence in their exciting new surroundings.

“In fact, the pupils all made huge improvements in just a few hours – even the child who’d felt unsure was joyfully jumping into the foam pit! They engaged with new people and events, which really shows the value of discovering active opportunities in a safe space free from judgement. It was instant validation that the scheme was having a positive impact. Plus, parents got in touch immediately after to let me know the courage the day had given their children to believe in themselves, speak to new people and try new things.”

Creating regular opportunities to maintain focus and motivation

“I didn’t want to lose momentum after the Graystone event, so I brought the Determination Group together for a fun team building session in school to further bond them through physical activity,” Becky says. “They wrote questions for each other, screwed up the pieces of paper, and had a snowball fight with them – where the catcher had to unfold the paper and answer the question. It was crucial to measure the impact of the event to help me understand how the pupils felt before and after their visit.”

Because they responded so positively, Becky set up further active opportunities using her connections across Greater Manchester. “I engaged with Panathlon, a children’s charity that organises competitive sports events for children with SEND,” she explains. “Fellow School Games Organisers spoke highly of the way Panathlon events allow children to compete without realising they’re competing. I attended an event with the children from the Year 7 Determination Group who are on the SEND register, and they were crowned Salford Panathlon champions. They’d never won anything before. Their joy was wonderful to see.”

Bringing together local schools to build on active confidence

Becky continued to take the group to as many active events as possible, including Hollywood Bowl and a Determination Group follow-up event at Howe Bridge Leisure Centre (in conjunction with School Games Organiser colleagues Craig Vickers and Jessica Simons). The Panathlon winning group even represented Greater Manchester at an event at Sportcity. “This was a massive deal, and they were a little overwhelmed by such a big venue,” Becky says. “But these mini competitions and little wins along the way add to both their active opportunities and their self-belief.”

As well as proving to the pupils what they can achieve, Becky delivered an initiative to show them how they could support other children too. “I ran a multi-skills inclusive festival for local primary school pupils struggling with their confidence. Some of my Determination Group acted as activity leaders so the primary school pupils could see them as positive examples of opportunities open to them. The Year 7s had a few hours’ leadership training with me, and the feedback from the primary school teachers was phenomenal.”

Increasing impact across the wider Salford region

Becky plans to follow up on the success of the initiatives in the next academic year. “I hope to take my Determination Group to another school to show them what we did and to hopefully develop the scheme throughout Salford,” she says. “It’s been so wonderful to see the children connect with friends from other schools. Now, they’re excited and engaged – they’re always coming to the PE office asking when the next event will take place. The fact they feel confident enough to do that is proof of the scheme’s success alone!

“As School Games Organisers, we know our work has impact,” Becky concludes. “But it’s fantastic to see how far this reaches. It’s brilliant these children, particularly the non-sporty ones, get the chance to be active, and we get to see the real difference it’s making to all aspects of their lives.”