Free ice skating returns for Stockton secondary school pupils

Secondary schools across Stockton-on-Tees are being offered free ice skating sessions for pupils as a local leisure scheme returns for a second academic year.

Tees Active says its Schools Ice Skating Initiative will give one secondary school each week up to 200 complimentary tickets for a designated Friday night disco session at Billingham Forum Ice Arena. The programme starts again this month and is due to continue until May 2027.

Tickets can be used as rewards or enrichment

Schools will decide how to distribute their allocation. Tees Active says tickets can be used to recognise achievement and positive behaviour, encourage attendance or provide an enrichment opportunity outside the classroom.

The scheme first ran from September 2025. According to Tees Active, thousands of young people attended during its first year, including pupils trying ice skating for the first time. The leisure trust says feedback from participating schools highlighted the chance to be active, spend time with friends and build confidence away from the classroom.

Leon Jones, managing director of Tees Active, said the trust was “delighted to be bringing the Schools Ice Skating Initiative back for a second year”. He said the programme was intended to strengthen the organisation’s work with schools while giving young people another way to access local leisure facilities.

A local venue with a long skating history

Billingham Forum has been part of the town since 1967 and its ice arena remains one of the distinctive leisure facilities in the borough. The free-ticket scheme uses the arena’s established Friday evening disco sessions rather than creating a separate school-only activity, giving pupils access to an existing community session.

That makes the offer relatively simple for schools to use. Instead of organising transport and an entire group visit during the school day, they can distribute tickets to individual pupils for an allocated Friday session. Tees Active says schools and colleges across Stockton-on-Tees will receive information directly about their dates and how tickets can be handed out.

Activity without another cost for families

The practical value is straightforward: the skating itself is free for the young people receiving tickets. For families weighing up the cost of leisure activities, removing the admission price creates an opportunity to try something that might otherwise stay off the list.

Tees Active describes the initiative as part of its wider work to help young people access physical activity and positive recreational experiences. The organisation has not published school-by-school allocations or a final target for the number of pupils who will take part this year, so the eventual reach will depend on how the weekly allocations are used.

Schools do not need to apply through a public booking form. Tees Active says it will contact schools and colleges directly with their allocated dates. Further information about the programme and the Friday night sessions is available through Billingham Forum Ice Arena.