National School Sports Week: how you can get involved

Mark Johnson, PE and Sport Subject Advisor

In this blog I want to increase awareness of National School Sport Week, suggest how you might get involved and share with you some resources that you might find useful if you are planning an event.

After a year of disruption in which young people have missed out on so much, sport and physical activity can have a massive impact on their recovery. The National School Sport Week can play a significant part in a return to normality and celebrate young people once again participating in sport.

What is National School Sports Week?

National School Sports Week was started in 2008 by the children’s charity, the Youth Sport Trust, to further promote participation and inclusion in school sport. The main goal is to highlight the importance of school sport and its positive impact on children’s physical and mental health, by having a designated week each year for school sports activities. By organising events such as sports days and tournaments, schools can show students the benefits of taking part in sport.

In 2020, due to the Covid pandemic, the event became National School Sport Week at Home, with the aim of encouraging children and their families to take part and be active while under lockdown restrictions. With the help of Sky Sports, it reached 2 million people. You can read more about the 2020 campaign.

What is happening this year?

This year’s event will run from Saturday 19 June to Friday 25 June 2021.

National School Sport Week is run in association with European School Sports Day, which this year will take place on 24 September. 

This year the theme for the week is Together Again, and the Youth Sport Trust is actively encouraging schools and families to get involved in organising as many events as possible.

How you can get involved

If you are interested in getting involved in running an event, you should register with the Youth Sport Trust by clicking the relevant link below: 

Register as a school or organisation

Register as a parent

Everyone who signs up will receive free resources from the Youth Sport Trust, including a guide to staging an inclusive sports day, top tips on harnessing the power of sport to bring young people together and advice on how to give young people a voice in organising their sports days.

Other useful resources

Here are some more ideas if you are planning a National School Sports Week event: 

Youth Sport Trust activity ideas from 2020 

Key to a successful sports day – top tips 

Great ways to get special needs students involved in physical activities.

I hope this has inspired you to get involved and register with the Youth Sport Trust to plan an event.

Stay connected

If you have any questions, you can email us at PE@ocr.org.uk, call us on 01223 553998 or tweet us @OCR_PhysEd. You can also sign up to receive email updates and receive information about resources and support.

About the author

Mark joined OCR as a PE and sport subject advisor in October 2018. He graduated from Staffordshire University in 1999 with a BSc in Sports Studies, having previously completed a HND in Sports Science and Sports Injuries at Nottingham Trent University. After leaving university he worked as a residential social worker, where he also delivered the PE provision in the company’s own school for a small group of 11-16-year olds with challenging behaviour. 

Mark then pursued a career in teaching, first spending a year teaching PE at his old secondary school, then lecturing Sports Studies and Sports Science at an FE college for nearly 15 years. During his time at the college he delivered, assessed and internally verified and moderated a range of OCR, Pearson, NCFE and 1st4Sport qualifications at Levels 1-3. In addition to his full-time employment, Mark has also been a sports therapist, nutritionist and fitness coach at several rugby clubs for the last 18 years.