Kent School Games 2023-24 (Terms 1-2) Insight and Learnings
Introduction
Kent School Games, coordinated by Active Kent & Medway, work closely with 13 School Games Organisers across Kent and Medway to:
- engage children and young people most affected by inequalities
- provide new and exciting events and opportunities for our local network of schools.
This report captures the insight and learnings gained from the events held in first two terms of the 2023-24 academic year. We continue to use insight to ensure student voice is at the heart of all that we do, supporting the wider development of children and young people.
All our School Games events are assigned a ‘ME’ which signifies the skills and attributes that the event will focus on developing. The ‘ME’ theme enables schools to identify the students that they feel would benefit most from attending the events in order to develop their skill set.
Headlines
394 Students engaged across all events in Term 1 and Term 2
Disabled Students
Culturally Diverse Students
Students receiving Free School Meals
Activity Levels of all participants
60 minutes or more of physical activity per day
30-59 minutes of physical activity per day
0-29 minutes of physical activity per day
At all of our events we ask participants about their activity levels in a typical week. Results show that 43% of students who have attended our events are not meeting the recommended activity levels of 60 minutes per day. This compares with the national figure of 53%.
In addition to collecting activity level data, another metric we are now using is free school meal data. Children and young people in receipt of free school meals have been identified as another group who face the greatest inequalities to being active and are therefore less likely to be active.
Physical ME Events
Physical ME events look to develop physical competences such as physical literacy and movement.
We delivered Panathlon and Kin-Ball events during Terms 1 and 2. Both events were targeted at SEND students aiming to increase their enjoyment, attitudes and confidence towards being active. We surveyed students before and after the events to establish how they felt about being active.
Students that agreed 'a lot' with the following statements:
I feel positive about taking part
86%A 13% increase from before the event
I enjoy being active
84%An 8% increase from before the event
I think I am good at sport and physical activity
73%A 14% increase from before the event
Students told us how they felt after being active:
- Happy
- Good about myself
- More confident
- Proud
- On top of the world
Thinking ME Events
Thinking ME events focus on effective decision making and evaluating.
In November 2023, we partnered with the Golf Foundation to run a Golfway event for students in years 3 and 4. This Thinking ME event consisted of a carousel of activities that aimed to develop students’ cognitive skills through reflecting and learning on what they could do to improve their performance. The event saw an increase in decision making, communication, knowledge and understanding. We surveyed students before and after the events to establish how they felt about being active.
Students that agreed 'a lot' with the following statements:
I think before making choices
82%A 22% increase from before the event
I feel confident in sharing my ideas
69%A 21% increase from before the event
I know how to improve at this activity
98%A 72% increase from before the event
Social ME Events
Social ME events look to develop teamwork and communication.
Following on from the success of last years’ transition event we held two Sportshall Transition events in December 2023. These events are designed to help students feel more confident about taking part in PE at secondary school, improve their social skills and ease the transition for year 6’s to secondary school. Before and after the events, we asked students about their confidence levels in going to Secondary School and taking part in PE (scored 1-10 with 1 being the least confident and 10 being the most).
How confident do you feel about taking part in PE:
- Post Event Average Score: 8.5
- Pre Event Average Score: 8
How confident do you feel about going to Secondary School:
- Post Event Average Score: 7.5
- Pre Event Average Score: 6.2
Teacher Feedback
At each event, we ask teachers and staff to tell us what differences they’ve observed in their students during the event. They told us:
‘’Confidence and teamwork, helping regulate one another when disappointed or frustrated’’
‘’An engagement and joy for sport which they have not consistently shown in school’’
‘’A willingness to get involved with other schools’’
‘’All students were fully engaged and supported their teammates"
‘’Confidence, listening skills and understanding of golf skills’’
"They worked well with individuals who they have never met before and they were confident with what they were doing"
Key Learnings
From all the events we’ve delivered in Terms 1 and 2 of the 2023-24 academic year, here are the key learnings:
- The importance of feedback. After each event we ask for feedback from teachers which has helped us think about and shape the way we run our events moving forward. It is important that we are always seeking ways we can improve participant experience at our events.
- The value of Insight for Children and Young People. Monitoring each event not only gives us information to help measure the impact and success of our events but it also gives the participants time to reflect on their experience.
- Targeting the right audience. With greater focus on our events targeting those students with the greatest inequalities, we need to communicate better with schools to make it clearer which students they should be targeting and inviting to the events.
- Share the Learnings: We must continually share what we’re learning from our events with schools, deliverers and School Games Organisers in order to increase their understanding of the events and the impact they have, whilst ensuring a positive experience is had by all students.
We’d like to thank all our partners and local schools who helped make the latest Kent Schools Games events such a great success. We look forward to working with more schools and partners over the coming months.
Contact Us
For further information on the Kent School Games please contact your local School Games Organiser or email: Kentschoolgames@kent.gov.uk.
