Programme of study:
Physical education key stage 3

 

Key

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Explanatory notes
 

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Curriculum aims

Learning and undertaking activities in physical education contribute to achievement of the curriculum aims for all young people to become:

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

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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.
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Whole-body skills
These enable the body to move and be agile, for example walking, throwing, balancing, rolling, bending or twisting.
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Fine manipulation skills
These enable handling of equipment, use of gesture or writing.
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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.
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Body and mind
This includes:
  • stamina, strength, suppleness and speed
  • confidence, determination to succeed and mental alertness.

Performance

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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.
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Roles and responsibilities
This includes acting as solo performer, group performer and team member.
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Other participants and audiences
Participants include group members, team members and opponents. Audiences include judges, referees, umpires and spectators.
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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

Healthy, active lifestyles

Key processes

These are the essential skills and processes in PE that pupils need to learn to make progress.

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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:

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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:

Developing physical and mental capacity

Pupils should be able to:

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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.
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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:

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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:

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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.
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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:

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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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:

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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.
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Roles within a physical activity
This includes an attacking role rather than a defending role, supporter rather than supported in gymnastic or dance activity.
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Specialise in roles
This includes roles such as performer, leader and official.
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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.
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ICT
This includes:
  • recording and reviewing performances
  • recording data for the purposes of personal improvement.
 
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