featured, National Schools' Football Week

Throwback Thursday: A trip to King Edward VI Handsworth School for Schools’ Football Week

On Wednesday 26th May we sent our official photographer to King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls to cover their schools’ football week activity! This is what they got up to…

On the week of 24-28th May, King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls (KEVI) hosted Schools’ Football Week, an official campaign that was held around the country to highlight the huge scale of Schools’ Football in England. Over 100,000 players and around 8,000 teams of children took part. At KEVI, there was a mixture of different activities and challenges for everyone, ranging from a penalty shootout competition, keepy-uppy challenge, cross bar challenge, poster competitions, football assembly and house competitions. They were also part of a special event on Wednesday 26 May called Schools Football Week- Game On! where schools from across England were invited to play Covid-safe matches and tournaments, creating the “Ëœworld’s biggest football match!’ 

Giles Ip, PE Teacher from KEVI said “The House football events for Year 7, 8 and 9 took place in May as part of Schools’ football week and we were lucky that the weather was sunny and we were able to play each event with minimal disruption. All pupils played and took part in the competitions in very good spirits, with very positive attitudes and the level of competition was high. The football was extremely competitive, and it was so pleasing to see all our students get involved and enjoy it.”

“The Year 12’s came out victorious against the teachers in an epic battle of teacher vs students. The teachers took the lead but ended up losing 9-6 in front of a packed crowd in the sports hall.

We also held a football poster competition where students had to design a kit or poster about the benefits of football/no room for racism in football.”

Mr Ip continued, “We felt that Schools’ Football Week was a great opportunity to embrace Schools’ Football and the wellbeing benefits it provides to all pupils and players. We also ran an assembly to reflect this. It was an opportunity for everyone to get outside, have fun and enjoy being able to play football with their school friends, competitively or otherwise”.  

“We had an official photographer from the ESFA (English Schools’ Football Association) who came in to take some photographs of some of our pupils in action. We are delighted that they are going to use them on their website and social media channels!”

He added, “A huge big thank you to all those who took part, including staff who supported the activities.”

A big thank you to KEVI for allowing us to attend their school and capture their amazing Schools’ Football Week Activity, we are glad you enjoyed your events!

National Schools' Football Week, The World of Schools' Football

Schools’ Football Week – Game On 2020

A day dedicated to promoting as much Schools’ Football activity as possible across England

Schools’ Football Week, an ESFA initiative, is a campaign designed to highlight both the importance and scale of Schools’ Football activity across England. From schools, to clubs, to community trusts and beyond, the benefits are the same and the ESFA are proud to govern and provide activity for children to get involved.

Schools’ Football Week – Game On: Thursday 6 February 2020

As part of this season’s SFW celebrations, the ESFA are introducing a new initiative to try and bring together all schools’ football players and participants on one, specific day – celebrating the wonderful world of Schools’ Football!

We want to use this opportunity to see how much activity we can register across all age groups, communities, players, pupils and teams – so we need your help!

All participants are encouraged to share posts on social media platforms, Twitter and Instagram, tagging @SchoolsFootball and using the hashtag #SFWGameOn to share the activity taking place in your area. However big or small, we want to know about it and share in your success and celebrations. If you can, include in your messages how many players are taking part as well!

Everyone that registers activity using the #SFWGameOn hashtag on Thursday 6 February will be in with a chance of winning a money-can’t-buy prize, courtesy of our partners, Panini UK. Each school, team or club that participates will be entered into a draw to win a framed Panini sticker spread of their team – take a look at what they created for our England U18 squad last year…

Don’t miss out!

Not only can you win a wonderful bespoke gift for your eager participants, but don’t miss the fantastic opportunity to share your successes with us this Schools’ Football Week.