Learning and undertaking activities in physical education contribute to
achievement of the curriculum aims for all young people to become:
- successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve
- confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling
lives
- responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.
The importance of physical education
PE develops pupils' competence and confidence to take part in a range of
physical activities that become a central part of their lives, both in and
out of school.
A high-quality PE curriculum enables all pupils to enjoy and succeed in
many kinds of physical activity. They develop a wide range of skills and
the ability to use tactics, strategies and compositional ideas to perform
successfully. When they are performing they think about what they are doing,
analyse the situation and make decisions. They also reflect on their own
and others' performances and find ways to improve them. As a result, they
develop the confidence to take part in different physical activities and
learn about the value of healthy, active lifestyles. Discovering what they
like to do and what their aptitudes are at school helps them make informed
choices about lifelong physical activity.
PE helps pupils develop personally and socially. They work as individuals,
in groups and in teams, developing concepts of fairness and of personal
and social responsibility. They take on different roles and responsibilities,
including leadership, coaching and officiating. Through the range of experiences
that PE offers, they learn how to be effective in competitive, creative
and challenging situations.
Key concepts
There are a number of key concepts that underpin the study of PE. Pupils
need to understand these concepts in order to deepen and broaden their knowledge,
skills and understanding.
Competence
- Developing control in whole-body
and fine
manipulation skills.
- Selecting
and using skills, tactics and compositional ideas effectively
in different types of physical activity.
- Responding with body
and mind to the demands of an activity.
- Being adaptable to a widening range of familiar and unfamiliar contexts.
Competence
This is the relationship between skill, the selection and application
of skills, tactics, strategies and compositional ideas, and the readiness
of the body and mind to cope with the activity. It requires an understanding
of how these combine to produce effective performances.
Whole-body skills
These enable the body to move and be agile, for example walking, throwing,
balancing, rolling, bending or twisting.
Fine manipulation skills
These enable handling of equipment, use of gesture or writing.
Selecting and using skills
This includes:
- tactics - specific approaches to tackling a task or challenge, such
as changing speed in a game or producing a safe jump in an athletic
competition
- strategies - broad approaches to tackling a task or challenge, such
as ensuring there are sufficient technically demanding techniques
in a gymnastic sequence or using a specific formation in a game
- compositional ideas - the design principles that inform the composition
of a sequence or the choreographing of a dance. They include the use
of space, height, speed, dynamics, shape, relationships or direction.
Body and mind
This includes:
- stamina, strength, suppleness and speed
- confidence, determination to succeed and mental alertness.
Performance
- Carrying out actions, roles
and responsibilities to bring about successful outcomes.
- Developing awareness of other
participants and audiences that affect performers.
- Understanding of how to be successful in different types of activity.
Performance
This includes:
- applying physical competence
- knowing and understanding what they are trying to achieve and how
to go about doing it
- having a desire to achieve and improve
- being willing to take part in a range of competitive, creative and
challenge-type activities, both as individuals and as part of a team
or group.
Roles and responsibilities
This includes acting as solo performer, group performer and team member.
Other participants and audiences
Participants include group members, team members and opponents. Audiences
include judges, referees, umpires and spectators.
Be successful
This includes being able to use their knowledge, skills and competence
to:
- outwit opponents
- accurately repeat actions, phrases and sequences
- explore and communicate ideas, concepts and emotions
- perform at maximum levels in relation to speed, height, distance,
strength or accuracy
- identify and solve problems to overcome challenges
- exercise safely and effectively to improve health and well-being.
Creativity
- Using imaginative ways to solve problems and overcome challenges.
- Exploring and experimenting with techniques, tactics and compositional
ideas.
Healthy, active lifestyles
- Understanding that physical activity contributes to the healthy functioning
of the body and mind and is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle.
- Recognising that regular physical activity that is fit for purpose,
safe and enjoyable has the greatest impact on physical, mental and social
well-being.
Key processes
These are the essential
skills and processes in PE that pupils need to learn to make progress.
Essential skills and processes in PE
Progress in pupils' knowledge, skills, understanding and application of
the key processes in different contexts contributes to their achievement
of the high quality outcomes for PE and school sport.
Developing skills in physical activity
Pupils should be able to:
- refine and adapt skills into techniques
- develop the range of skills they use
- develop the precision, control and fluency of their skills.
Techniques
This includes whole-body and fine manipulation skills that need refining
and adapting for:
- sport-specific techniques defined by the rules of the sport and
its equipment, such as how to strike a ball when using a tennis racket,
cricket bat, rounders bat, golf club
- different purposes, such as running in a sprint race, for a vault
or in a dance.
Being creative and making decisions
Pupils should be able to:
- select and use tactics, strategies and compositional ideas effectively
- develop their plan what they need to practise to be more effective in
their performance
- refine and adapt their ideas and plans in response to changing circumstances.
Developing physical and mental capacity
Pupils should be able to:
- develop their physical strength, stamina, speed and flexibility
- develop their mental determination
to succeed.
Physical strength, stamina, speed and flexibility
This includes:
- strength to deal with the efforts and loads placed on them
- stamina to maintain effort (both cardiovascular and muscular)
- speed to contract muscles quickly and slowly
- flexibility to move joints through their full range.
Mental determination
This includes:
- the confidence to have a go
- determination to face up to challenges and keep going
- the desire to achieve success for oneself and others.
Evaluating and improving
Pupils should be able to:
- analyse
performances, identifying strengths and weaknesses
- make decisions about what to do to improve the performance
- act on their decisions in future performances.
Analyse performances, identifying strengths
and weaknesses
This includes looking at:
- the range and quality of skills
- the range and effectiveness of tactics, strategies or compositional
ideas
- the effectiveness of body and mind to respond to the challenges
- linking these three components and identifying what would bring
about improvement and what actions should be prioritised.
Making informed choices about healthy,
active lifestyles
Pupils should be able to:
- identify the types of activity they are best suited to
- identify the types
of role they would like to take on
- make choices about their involvement in healthy physical activity.
Healthy, active lifestyles
This includes getting involved in PE, sport, dance and healthy physical
activity regularly to meet government aspirations for PE, school sport
and club links.
Types of role
Types of roles include performer, leader and official. They also include
different performance roles within an activity, for example an attacking
role rather than a defending role, supporter rather than supported in
gymnastic or dance activity.
Range and content
This section outlines the breadth of the subject on which teachers should
draw when teaching the key concepts and key processes.
The study of PE should include activities that cover at least three of
the following:
- outwitting opponents, as in games activities
- accurate
replication of actions, phrases and sequences as in gymnastic
activities
- exploring
and communicating ideas, concepts and emotions, as in dance
activities
- performing
at maximum levels in relation to speed, height, distance, strength
or accuracy, as in athletic activities
- identifying
and solving problems to overcome challenges of an adventurous
nature, as in life saving and personal survival in swimming, and outdoor
activities
- exercising
safely and effectively to improve health and well-being as in
fitness and health activities.
Outwitting opponents
This includes activities in which the concept of success is to overcome
an opponent in a face-to-face competition where each opponent can directly
affect the other's performance and the key is to outwit the opponent(s).
For example:
- invasion games (such as water polo, netball, football, rugby, Gaelic
football, American football, polo and hockey)
- net/wall games (such as volleyball, tennis, table tennis and squash)
- striking/fielding games (such as softball, stoolball, cricket and
table cricket)
- combat activities (such as fencing, judo and karate).
Accurate replication
This includes activities in which success is judged on the ability to
repeat actions, phrases and sequences of movement as perfectly as possible.
In competition, the winner is the one who meets the definition of perfect
most closely. Examples include: synchronised swimming, diving, rebound
tumbling, competition ballroom dancing, gymnastics and skateboarding.
Exploring and communicating ideas, concepts
and emotions
This includes activities in which success is judged on the degree to which
the performer makes contact with the audience and communicates their ideas,
feelings and emotions, such as capoeira, contemporary dance, country dancing,
ballet, Indian hand dance and street dance.
Performing at maximum levels
This includes activities in which success is measured by personal best
scores or times, and in competition by direct comparison with others'
scores or times such as racing in the swimming pool or on a skateboard,
or having a low score in golf or a high score in archery.
Identifying and solving problems
This includes activities in which success is judged on how efficiently
and safely the challenges were overcome, such as orienteering, personal
survival, lifesaving and expeditions involving walking or using transport
such as boats and canoes.
Exercising safely and effectively
This includes activities such as aqua aerobics, weight training, jogging
and power walking in which success is related to improving feelings of
health, fitness and well-being, including such things as weight loss or
gain, better heart health, better body tone, healthier skin.
Curriculum opportunities
During the key stage pupils should be offered the following opportunities
that are integral to their learning and enhance their engagement with the
concepts, processes and content of the subject.
The curriculum should provide opportunities for pupils to:
- get involved in a range
of activities that develop the whole body
- experience a range of roles
within a physical activity
- specialise
in specific activities and roles
- follow pathways to other activities in and beyond school
- perform as an individual, in a group or as part of a team in formal
competitions or performances to audiences beyond the class
- use ICT as an aid to improving performance and tracking progress
- make links between PE and other subjects and areas of the curriculum.
Range of activities
This includes activities that develop the strength, stamina, suppleness
and speed of the upper body and arms, and lower body and legs. This can
be achieved through focused weekly activities lasting at least two hours
of curriculum time.
Roles within a physical activity
This includes an attacking role rather than a defending role, supporter
rather than supported in gymnastic or dance activity.
Specialise in roles
This includes roles such as performer, leader and official.
Follow pathways
This may involve:
- getting involved in PE, dance, sport and healthy physical activity
regularly to meet government aspirations for involvement in PE, school
sport and club links. This should include at least two hours of high-quality
PE and school sport delivered within the curriculum and an additional
two hours beyond the school day delivered by a range of school, community
and club providers
- taking part in school and community sport and dance opportunities
- deciding to become a performer, leader or official and working towards
accreditation
- being involved with increasingly complex and challenging tasks and
activities.
ICT
This includes:
- recording and reviewing performances
- recording data for the purposes of personal improvement.