The School Games consists of four unique types of competition:

• Intra-School Competition
• Local Inter-School Competition
• County Final
• School Games National Finals

Active Essex work closely with School Sports Partnerships and School Games Organisers (SGOs) to ensure a high quality and inclusive offer is available at all levels and to ensure this offer is supported and linked to our wider CYP offer.

Due to Covid:19 our scheduled summer events were cancelled however locally and county wide there was a wide variety of challenges, resources and support made available to schools, families and young people to enable physical activity and competition to continue.

As we welcome schools back to the new term we understand that we do so under very different circumstances.  However, our aim is to ensure that the School Games continues to offer opportunities for young people to experience the life changing benefits of sport and physical activity safely and with real intent to support young people to overcome challenges that they have faced as a result of Covid:19.

The key areas of focus for 2020 are:

• To maintain school engagement and support schools to continue to prioritise and deliver 60 active minutes for every child thus providing opportunities for young people to improve their physical, emotional and social wellbeing
• To identify and have ongoing provision that targets young people for whom physical activity levels have been most negatively impacted by COVID-19 (those particularly from low socio-economic areas, BAME, SEND etc.)
• To have a continued focus on secondary school engagement – with a focus on supporting those young people who have just transitioned into Year 7/8
• To ensure that the local offer provides opportunities for young people to take on leadership and volunteering roles
• To ensure physical activity and competition provision supports young people’s wider development including their ability to re-socialise, supports their psychological and physiological fitness.

These outcomes will ensure that the School Games offer is on mission and fit for purpose in the changing world that we face over the coming months.

For Autumn 2020 our local inter-school and County Finals will be virtual, with the following events:

• Cheerleading – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOTdAjUvR8Y&feature=youtu.be
• Gymnastics – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq72UMe0fJg&feature=youtu.be
• Athletics

We hope that your schools are able to participate and look forward to this term of competition.