A SCHOOL sports organisation has been joined by 25 more schools - making it the biggest sporting partnership in Kirklees.
The Pennine School Sport Partnership (PSSP) aims to increase children's participation in sports and physical activity during and after school.
The partnership has now been joined by All Saints College at Bradley Bar, Salendine Nook High School, Colne Valley High School in Linthwaite, each of their 21 feeder primary schools and Lydgate Special School, New Mill.
PSSP was established in 2005 as part of a £2.5bn Government school sports strategy with the key aim of encouraging children to do two hours of PE each week.
The group now includes 50 primary and seven high schools in south Kirklees.
The partnership has helped to improve sports coaching in schools and to establish and promote sports clubs in and outside school.
Partnership development manager Brenda Hilton said: "It's about raising the profile of PE, because previously it's been quite low down in the school pecking order.
"We always need more sports for children. 80% of children do two hours of physical activity in school, but less than one third of children play sports outside school. We're trying to get children to keep doing sport after school.
"Kirklees won the West Yorkshire Sports Hall Athletics Championships and we wouldn't have been able to do that without the partnership.
"We hope the partnership will enable people to move up to the professional level."
