OVER 40 schools from across the district are taking part in a huge Olympic-inspired sporting event in Keighley.

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 tomorrow (June 24) and the run-up to the event has involved a baton being passed between all of the schools taking part.

In total the baton has covered 70 miles in five weeks.

The last school with the baton is Burley Oaks Primary School in Burley-in-Wharfedale, which will take the relay baton to the Games as part of the opening ceremony.

Bradford School Games organisers from across the district have been running the baton relay as part of the National School Games Programme, which was set up to motivate millions of young people to take part in more competitive school sport.

It is the first time such a large-scale multi-sports event involving Bradford-district schools has been held, and it was partly inspired by this summer’s Rio Olympics.

Bradford is the only city in West Yorkshire to hold such an event.

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

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

Rachel Hargreaves, the School Games organiser, 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.”

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 of passion, determination, honesty, team work, respect and self-belief in their schools, as well as to celebrate sport and physical activity.