PE/Sport
The PE department strives to provide accessible and competitive sport for every student in the academy, which will see them develop lifelong habits that promote a healthy and active lifestyle.
We aim to ensure that all students:
- achieve their personal best in the subject
- experience competitive sport at some level while at the academy
- gain an academic qualification in Physical Education
- gain the necessary knowledge to lead a healthy and active lifestyle when they leave the academy.
Key Stage 3 overview
The Key Stage 3 Physical Education curriculum has been designed based on exploring and developing the techniques and key skills associated with a range of different sports. Sports are selected to help build not only techniques but the core values we hold dear to our school’s ethos.
We explore sports that student would have begun exploring in Year 6 but also introduce new sports such as lacrosse, trampolining and many more. It is fundamental that students are exposed to a variety of settings and will develop in both individual and team aspects of sport. Sports are selected to help students develop in both individual and team settings where they not only develop techniques but also values such as teamwork and determination which we instill here at Harris Garrard.
Key Stage 4 overview
In Years 10 and 11 we deliver both Cambridge National in Sport studies (CNAT qualification) and core physical education (no assessment) with care consideration from our PE team we ensure that students select the right course for them, we have conversations with the students in Year 9 and recommend the course best suited to their needs. The CNAT course allows students to expand and develop a theory-based knowledge of sport as well as practical elements that include leading and coaching elements of the course and performing in a variety of chosen sports that are tailored to each individual. Core physical education allows students to take part in curriculum-based learning and will cover a variety of sports however will not be assessed and will not earn a qualification however still ensures the students is being physically active and following a series of lessons in relation to the topic/sport.
You can download Knowledge Organisers for each year group from our Knowledge Organisers page.
For queries about the PE curriculum please contact Jack Meade j.meade@harrisgarrard.org.uk.
Further details of the curriculum can be found below.
Year 7
Students begin the year in term 1 with more familiar sports such as football, rugby, netball and badminton. They will look to develop key skills within each sport and will be assessed through a practical end of topic assessment. This data will be used to help understand and target areas for development when they revisit the topic in the following year. We identify five key skills per sport and deliver double lessons where possible to maximise learning time, we look to ensure that students are developing these techniques throughout the lessons and are presented with plenty of opportunity to perform and perfect these skills.
In term 2, students are presented with new sports and continue to develop skills associated with their chosen sports such as basketball, trampolining, fitness, and handball. Students are challenged in non-opposed settings when developing techniques and pushed and progress into semi-opposed and opposed practices where they also look to develop skills such as decision-making and problem-solving where they must look to develop areas individually and from a team setting.
Term 3 and 4 we explore athletics consisting of both track and field events. Students will spend two weeks on each event to explore technique and develop skills which in turn can lead to them competing for the school in our Harris Federation athletic events, first in the regional heats and if successful the finals. Our events consist of 100M, 200M, 300M, 400M, 800M and 1500M 4X100M relay. Our field and throwing events consist of Long Jump, Shot Putt, Javelin.
Year 8
In Year 8, students revisit sports from Year 7 but now with the intention of developing a more competitive understanding, students are presented with the five previous skills to develop and access prior knowledge as well as being given an extra two skills to develop in each sport. More importantly we are now looking for students to be able to identify and make the correct decisions when in possession and when playing against an opponent.
By now students have been put into sets to ensure that they are in a class where they are most likely to succeed and develop further this is not to say that students do not have the opportunity to move between sets where we deem this necessary. Students will then be assessed at the end of topic/sport to see where students have improved and understand the areas for improvement. This helps us to assess their understanding of the topic.
Year 9
Students will by now have a sound understanding of the key aspects in a variety of sports covered in the previous two years. We will spend this year helping to ensure that they can perform these skills under pressure and remain composed in doing so. We look to ensure that students are familiar and presented with opportunities to apply these skills in an opposed setting throughout the term and explore ways in problem solving and outwitting opponents. Students will also begin to understand how to assess their own and peer performance and explore solutions in helping them identify areas for improvement among each other.
The reason for this peer led development is that it is fundamental and a significant role that features in their Year 10 and 11 Cambridge national qualification should they decide to pursue a qualification in Physical Education. We ensure that students are suitably prepared for the CNAT course and have been presented with opportunities to engage in content that will be present on the following year, this helps cement routines and expectations for students who are doing the qualification and helps create the path necessary to helping them succeed with this early integration.
Year 10
In Year 10 students will start with their Cambridge National content and in their practical lessons they will learn two sports and will spend a lesson each week understanding the different skills in them sports. They will beigin to understand the breakdown of how a lesson will and should be structured and use this time to help build and gain ideas for leading their own lesson for a small group of students, throughout the lessons they will be self assessing against each skill learned to establish areas for improvement and strengths within the topic. They will then evaluate their overall performance and create two training programmes and action plans based on the areas they have highlighted for improvement and work on them areas of their chosen sport.
After Christmas they will need to create a session plan for a sport of their choice to teach to the rest of the class. Once they have taught their session to the class, they will need to review their session and talk about the strengths and weaknesses of their session. They will also need to think about what they would implement and change if they were to teach the same lesson again to different students.
Year 11
In Year 11, students will start with exam preparation and the introduction of contemporary issues in sport. They will start looking into the different user groups in sports before moving on to the specific barriers and solutions for those user groups. They will also look into what a national governing body is and what the role is for that organisation. The final topic they will cover is the different types of sport events and what goes into planning one.
It is important to ensure that students are prepared for the exam and will be given support through tools such as The Everlearner (online platform) that gives them access to exam content from home and allows them to practice exam questions and aids in areas that may need improvement. We ensure that students are tackling exam questions and topics throughout the year so that no surprises occur when they sit their exams whether that be for early entry in January of that year or the following May.
Careers
Studying sport and physical education provides the both the knowledge and skills as well as the attributes and character that are useful across a range of future careers.
Attributes developed during PE lessons:
Communication – The ability to communicate with team mates who are underperforming could be used at work when managing staff
Teamwork – The success of any team is based on how well they can work together rather than the individual strengths of each individual
Resilience – Sport has winners and losers. Experiencing failure and learning from it so the same mistakes are not repeated is important in any profession.
Work Ethic – Talent is not enough. In the world of sport and work, hard work must be used to make the most of your ability.
Leadership – Building a successful career will normally require leading and managing others; an attribute that is developed in sport.
Potential career pathways
- Sports coaching
- Sports rehabilitation
- Physiotherapy
- Leisure industry
- Personal training
- Physical therapy
- Youth work
- Teaching
- Emergency services
- Armed services
Find out more about the careers programme at Harris Garrard Academy.
