Schools and school sport look very different across Europe this year, so it has never been more important to find creative ways to keep children active for their physical and mental wellbeing. The 6th European School Sport Day, on 25 September, invites schools to show the world how they are adapting or re-starting their activities by planning in-person (offline) or digital (online) events for the day, or a mix of both.

The European School Sport Day is a flagship event of the #BeActive European Week of Sport and last year 9000 schools in 44 countries got over 3 million school children moving for 120 minutes on the day. The event was not just limited to Europe – schools on four continents took part and shared their activities on the official website and social media.

Registration is now open at the official website and schools are welcome to register their events if they are ready to do so. We know that implementing European School Sport Day will not be easy this year, but with a positive and flexible approach schools can find creative ways to get school children to #BeActive on the day.

Studies are revealing the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on children’s social and emotional wellbeing, so European School Sport Day is an opportunity for schools to prepare children and parents to return to physical education in a safe and mindful way.

Observing national and local guidelines for school sport and physical distancing, schools may choose to do school-based or online activities, as recommended below.

In-person (offline) European School Sport Day:

• Activities should keep in line with national guidelines/regulations (in a large area outdoors, etc.).
• They do not need to be organised in a public space to be classified as “flagship European School Sport Day events” in 2020; they may be smaller events held within the school setting.

Digital (online) European School Sport Day:

• The 120 minutes of physical activity recommended for the day do not need to be done in one session; they can be divided into 2 morning and 2 afternoon sessions, for example).
• Simultaneous online PE sessions will be streamed across Europe by different countries’ National Coordinators – the live streaming times will be announced in August-September; there will be at least one session running simultaneously on the day.
• Schools can conduct online sessions their own way or follow their National Coordinator’s live streaming sessions.
• Individual schools can also upload their own videos and links on the official website’s registration portal.

The official European School Sport Day Toolkit and Communications Handbook are now available for schools and event coordinators.

European School Sport Day is coordinated by the Hungarian School Sport Federation (HSSF) in cooperation with the European Physical Education Association, Youth Sport Trust International, the International Sport and Culture Association, BG Be Active and V4Sport, and National Coordinators in over 40 countries.

These partners have successfully experimented with digital formats for delivering physical education during lockdown in their national languages (HSSF, BG Be Active and V4Sport) and in English, with V4Sport setting a world record in online physical education participation in April. They are ready to share their inspiration with schools that take part in European School Sport Day 2020.

Save the date – 25 September 2020 – and register your event here.

Contact ESSD 2020 coordinator Anita Király for more information on how you can take part.