Biggest KSENT Games Yet Brings Inclusive Sport to 127 SEND Pupils Across Kent and Medway

A Record Turnout for Inclusive Sport

One hundred and twenty-seven pupils showed up. That alone tells you something.

The KSENT Games, part of the Kent School Games programme delivered by Active Kent & Medway, brought together KS2 and KS3 pupils with special educational needs and disabilities from 18 special schools across Kent and Medway — the biggest turnout the event has ever seen. Medway Park in Gillingham hosted the day, with sport stations adapted so pupils of differing abilities could compete side by side rather than in separate streams.

What Was on Offer

Not your standard school sports day. Pupils took part in wheelchair basketball, boccia, table cricket and sport stacking — formats built specifically to strip away barriers and widen who gets a look-in. Each one accommodates different levels of mobility, coordination and communication, which means a pupil who’d normally sit out a conventional PE lesson can compete on genuinely equal terms.

And that’s rather the point, isn’t it? How many SEND pupils across Kent spend their school years watching from the sidelines — not because they don’t want to play, but because the format was never designed with them in mind?

Mainstream Schools in the Mix

Beyond the numbers, what made this event worth noting was who helped run it. Twenty-four Sport Leaders from Aylesford School and St John’s Catholic Comprehensive School in Gravesend were there on the day, supporting the event in a leadership capacity. Mainstream pupils, in other words, working alongside SEND learners rather than in a separate world from them. It’s a small but telling detail about how the day was designed.

Active Kent & Medway say the Kent School Games programme is built around tackling inequalities and increasing youth engagement in sport. The Sport Leaders’ involvement fits that aim squarely. This isn’t just about giving SEND pupils a day out — it’s about building a school sport culture where inclusion is simply how things are done.

Part of a Broader Push

The KSENT Games sits within the 2024-25 Kent School Games programme, which has also taken in inclusive cricket sessions and disability-focused activity days. Active Kent & Medway frames the whole thing around inclusion, teamwork and positivity — language that can drift into background noise, but here it’s backed by a concrete county-wide network reaching dozens of schools. Worth noting, though: the organisation hasn’t published an overall participation figure for 2024-25, so the full reach of these activities beyond the KSENT Games itself isn’t yet clear.

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Key Takeaways

• 127 KS2 and KS3 SEND pupils from 18 special schools across Kent and Medway took part in the biggest KSENT Games to date
• Adapted sports including wheelchair basketball, boccia, table cricket and sport stacking were available at Medway Park, Gillingham
• 24 Sport Leaders from Aylesford School and St John’s Catholic Comprehensive School in Gravesend supported the event, bridging mainstream and special education settings

What This Means for Kent Residents

For families of SEND children across the county, events like the KSENT Games are one of the few chances their children get to compete at county level in a format designed around their needs — not retrofitted as an afterthought. Eighteen schools involved suggests this is a growing network rather than a one-off fixture. Parents and school staff wanting to know about future Kent School Games inclusive events can get details directly through Active Kent & Medway.