Activity
Sports Hall Athletics
Audience
Year 6 & Year 7 Pupils
Location
County wide
Purpose
An opportunity for Year 6 students to mix with Year 7 students and to take part in activities and to feel more confident about the transition from primary to secondary school and taking part in PE.
Engagement
62 young people from five schools across Kent attended the Social Me event which was aimed at pupils who find it difficult to connect with group tasks and work with other students.
Impact
After attending the event, confidence in moving to secondary school and taking part in sport and PE had increased for the Year 6 students.
Next Steps
The event will be delivered again for the same primary and secondary schools with further opportunities to engage in activities and work with other students to improve social skills.
Introduction
In April 2022, 62 young people from five schools across Kent attended the School Games – Sports Hall Transition Event in partnership with Sports Hall Athletics. The event was an opportunity for Year 6 students to mix with Year 7 students from local secondary schools to allow them to feel more confident about the transition from primary to secondary school. The young people engaged in a range of activities which required them to work together to complete set challenges.
“We were delighted to partner with Active Kent & Medway to develop this new event.
It was wonderful to see the students, who possibly wouldn’t have had this opportunity before, engaging in a range of sports hall athletics challenges and having fun”.
Adam Burgess, Sports Hall Athletics
Kent School Games - Social Me Event
The School Games in Kent has evolved over the last couple of years with greater focus on targeted provision, engaging those young people most affected by inequalities. By identifying what skills and attributes need developing, the Games support the wider development of children and young people through six different themes: Physical Me, Social Me, Thinking Me, Personal Me, Healthy Me and Competitive Me.
This transition event was a Social Me event which was aimed at pupils who find it difficult to connect with group tasks and work with others. The event and the activities aimed to help the young people feel more confident about taking part in PE at secondary school. It also aimed to help them improve their social skills by working together with other students from different schools.
Impact
The Year 6 students were asked how confident they felt about going to secondary school before and after the event:
17% of students were least confident before the event. After the event, this figure decreased to 3%.
Whilst transitioning was the focus of the event, the emphasis on creating a positive experience whilst taking part in sport and physically active was still just as important. The students were asked how confident they felt about taking part in sport and PE at secondary school both before and after the event.
45% of students felt confident prior to the event. After the event, this increased to 81%.
A ‘thought tree’ was used at the event to collect quotes from the students. Here’s what some of them had to say:
What I like about sport and being active is…
“It gets you to socialise more and have fun in the games” “I like it because it is fun” “Everyone can play and get involved” “It’s good for me”
I would be more active if…
“I had more encouragement” “There was less of one sport like football” “Covid wasn’t such a thing” “There was the possibility to have longer PE sessions”
Next Steps
The event will be delivered again for the same primary and secondary schools. There will also be opportunities for the primary schools to visit their local secondary school prior to the second event to practice their skills using the equipment that all targeted schools have been given.
