OVER 40 schools across the district will take part in a massive, Olympic inspired sporting event later this month.

The School Games involves 43 schools, both primary and secondary, and will see pupils taking part in sports like tennis, boccia and athletics.

It is being held at University Academy Keighley on Friday June 24, and the run up to the event involves a baton being passed between all the schools taking part.

In total the baton will cover 70 miles in five weeks, and started at Fearnville Primary School in Tyersal last month.

Bradford School Games organisers from across the district have organised the baton relay as part of the National School Games Programme - set up to motivate and inspire millions of young people across the country to take part in more competitive school sport.

It is the first time such a large scale multi sports event involving Bradford schools has been held, and it was partly inspired by this summer's Rio Olympics. And Bradford is the only city in West Yorkshire to hold such a large scale event.

However, if it proves to be a success then similar games may become an annual fixture of the school year.

A "Winter Games" event was held at the University of Bradford in February.

Schools were invited to use the baton to promote the school games values; passion, determination, honesty, team work, respect and self-belief in their schools as well as to celebrate sport and physical activity, and are encouraged to be as creative as they wish in how they transport the baton from their school to the next.

The last school with the baton will be Burley Oaks who will bring the relay baton to the games as part of the opening ceremony.

There are games organisers in five schools across the district, Tong School, Hanson School in Swain House, Beckfoot School in Bingley, Thornton Grammar School and Oakbank School in Keighley.

The games are a partnership between the schools, local sports clubs and the national bodies for each sport.

The summer games will see competitions involving netball, football, golf, tennis, cycling and many other sports.

Rachel Hargreaves, the School Games Organiser based at Tong High School, said: "There will be about 1,000 young people taking part across the day.

"There have been competitions like this in the past, but they have usually taken place independently and in a piecemeal way. This will bring things together on a much bigger scale, it has not been done in such a high profile way before.

"We hope that we can continue the games in this style in future years. It should be a fantastic event."

After the games, two pupils will be selected to represent Bradford in the West Yorkshire Summer Games Baton relay on July 5 at Leeds Beckett University.