YOUNGSTERS from across the region took part in a national initiative yesterday to support school sport.

At 11.40am, or 20 to 12, to highlight the fact that there are only 555 days to go before the 2012 Olympic Games start, more than 15,000 pupils at 100 schools in the North-East joined 70,000 youngsters nationally for the National School Sport Dance, co-ordinated by School Sports Partnerships (SSPs) to show what can be achieved by a national network.

Last month, the Government performed a U-turn when Education Secretary Michael Gove announced that SSPs will not be scrapped – if teachers decide to keep them.

He said £47m would be set aside for SSPs until the summer of next year, and that schools could choose whether to keep the partnerships, which organise PE, sports clubs and competitions, beyond that.

Olympic swimmer Nick Gillingham launched the event in Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre, County Durham, yesterday.

He said: “The thing I love about this is that the dance has been designed and inspired by pupils to show their passion for sport in school.

“The support from the schools involved in this is outstanding and it just shows the true strength and power that, not only sport can have to unite our schools and their pupils and teachers, but also the strength and depth of the network.”