12.05.20
Primary Schools

School Games Mark Paused

Last week, the Youth Sports Trust paused the 2020 school games mark due to the Coronavirus outbreak. 

This decision has reportedly been taken following a consultation with School Games Organisers, Head Teachers and a sample of schools that had achieved Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards in 2019. Although there will be some schools that will be disappointed that their earlier efforts to achieve the Sports Mark may not result in certification, we see this as an opportunity continue to refine good practice and to further develop opportunities for children to be active and to take part in competitive school sport, whilst hopefully getting your least active children, active. 

Action planning for 2020/21 starts now, and we are here to help. 

We have detailed some helpful tips below to ensure that you can support your children and so that you can also achieve your Sports Mark award. 

1. Be Sport Ready

When planning your PE Curriculum for next year, think beyond just delivering PE, and consider opportunities for your school to be as physical active as possible. 

  • Ensure a minimum of 2 hours of PE is planned and delivered for each class
  • Sign Up or Login to https://www.activeschoolplanner.org and complete the Activity Heat Map for your school (and classes), use this as a tool to increase activity and decrease sedentary behaviour. 
  • Plan a School Games Day and publish the proposed date on https://www.yourschoolgames.com 

2. Encourage Activity

Being active should be encouraged and celebrated, so understand what your children do outside of school. 

  • Map Clubs, Sports Teams and exercise that children do weekly outside of school. 
  • Create a culture of being active and celebrate those children that are (Our Young Champions Programme is an ideal tool to support this).
  • Highlight children that are least active. Try and encourage activity through a wide and varied curriculum, school games, or introductions to sports clubs. 
  • Regularly revisit this information to track if children are becoming more active

3. Encourage Competition

Being competitive should be encouraged in the right way and children being encouraged to try and win, is fine, as long as it is not a win at all costs attitude. We just want children to enjoy being competitive. 

  • Find a Digital Competition (The Amaven Schools Assessment is perfect for this)
  • Run Intra School Competitions (ideal for the end of a unit of work) 
  • Take Part in Inter School Games Competitions (Level 2)
  • Remember to keep a list of all those children that have taken part in these activities (and other school clubs)

4. Promote Leadership

Children should be given some ownership of the sport that occurs in school and given opportunities to learn leadership skills. 

  • Create a school sports organising committee that sit on the school council. 
  • Train playground leaders that encourage other children to be active. 
  • Encourage children to lead warm-ups and manage equipment for PE lessons. 
  • Encourage children to officiate games, develop tactics and offer suggestions for improvement. 

5. Promote the School Games 

Promotion of the school games supports in developing opportunities for the children. 

  • Create a sports noticeboard
  • Signpost children to forms of activity including Amaven Schools Portal and Young Champions.
  • Promote achievements and activities to the wider community via school social media and newsletters ideally at least every two weeks. 

Amaven can help with our Young Champions programme. 

Our Young Champions Programme has been created by sports coaches, movement specialists and sports scientists to provide young children with home practice sessions to develop fitness, motor and sports skills. It will help children of all ages and abilities to play sport to the best of their ability and keep them active and healthy. 

AND BEST OF ALL ACCESS TO OUR YOUNG CHAMPIONS PROGRAMME IS FREE! 

Sign up now, and as long as the schools remain closed, we will give you full access completely free of charge. 

There is also a huge range of activities, so regardless to how much space you have available, every home should be able to access our expertly designed programmes. 

Why not give it a try? Sign up here for free access here https://www.amaven.co.uk/young-champions?code=directamaven