Stockport County Together Schools’ Programme enters third year

Stockport County Community Trust has shared the impact of its Together Schools’ Programme as the initiative enters its third year.

Thanks to funding from Cheadle-based specialist lender, Together, the programme is offered free of charge to every primary, secondary, specialist, and alternative setting in Stockport.

In the 2024/25 academic year alone, the programme engaged 5,602 children and young people across the borough. Activities combined classroom-based workshops with football and leadership sessions, creating a balance of learning and enrichment that schools and pupils value greatly.

The Learning Through Sport programme, delivered in 74 primary schools, reached 4,501 children took part in a combined 12 hours of classroom and football sessions. The initiative delivered interactive workshops covering:

• E-Safety & Social Media
• Mental Health & Wellbeing
• Numeracy & Finance
• Literacy
• Stockport & Its History

An after-school girls’ football programme also saw nearly 950 girls participate across the year, boosting confidence and enjoyment in sport.

Teachers praised the sessions for being “inclusive,” “interactive,” and “brilliantly adapted to suit children’s needs,” while pupils highlighted how much they enjoyed both the classroom workshops and working with Stockport County coaches.

Work in secondary schools in the borough focused on Building Confidence and Leadership. Students at 11 schools and 2 alternative provisions completed 12 hours of workshops and football, developing resilience, teamwork, and leadership.

The County Award programme gave at-risk students the chance to deliver football coaching to primary school children and present social action projects at Edgeley Park.

Feedback showed significant improvements in confidence, behaviour, and engagement, with staff noting “huge progress around attitude” and “big improvements in respect and attendance.”

The full impact report into the scheme in Stockport schools in 2024-25 is available here.

With delivery for the new academic year due to begin, the Trust is excited to build on this success. New programmes, including a Year 3 & 4 Creative Art project and a “Start Well” initiative, will be introduced, alongside the expansion of the Stockport County ASPIRE Programme to all high schools.