Physical Education

Dance and gymnastics

Fitness & health

Swimming & water safety

Bringing positive competiton back into physical education

There is a renewed emphasis on the value of competitive sport in schools, with a new national schools' competition framework, and the appointment of a network of competition managers across the country. Both are designed to help schools nurture talented young athletes, but also to ensure that all students have opportunities to learn vital life skills from participating in competitive sport. Some students will gain a great deal simply by playing competitively during a PE lesson, while others - like Year 12 hockey player Alicia - aspire to compete at the Olympics. Consequently, competition needs to take many forms, and it must be appropriate, integrated and inclusive. The Manor School in Mansfield, King Edward VII School in King's Lynn and Dorothy Stringer School in Brighton show how they are ensuring all their students benefit from competing, whatever their abilities and aspirations.

A Place for Competition

Two schools show how to give a physical boost to lunchtimes

In this programme, we see how two schools have transformed listless playtimes into positive physical experiences. The Deanes School in Essex has introduced a number of zoned areas within its playground, known as Activity City. The wide range of activities offered helps to develop skills in sport and PE. Some of these are specifically designed for SEN groups, and the gifted and talented. The Activity City is a very structured environment and, as well as getting the students active during lunch, the school has noticed a marked improvement in students' attitudes to study, post-lunchtime. The programme also features Rawmarsh Community School, near Rotherham. The school offers a range of lunchtime activities, the most unusual being a radio station that broadcasts music, requests and school announcements over a school system at break time and lunchtime. The students love having music to perform to, and levels of physical activity and engagement have increased since its introduction.

Active Lunchtime

Two schools show good practice in using AOTS in PE and sport

Adults Other Than Teachers can offer a great deal to schools seeking to broaden their provision of high-quality physical education. However, recruiting, training and supporting AOTS, and understanding how and when it's appropriate to use them, is vital. The two schools in this programme show the way to achieving this. Denton Primary School in Northamptonshire has supported an enthusiastic parent in her wish to become involved, resulting in her changing career and qualifying as a coach. Tong High School and Sports College in Bradford employs several full-time sports assistants. They are distinguished sportsmen and women in their own right, who have been trained and supported to a high level to work with pupils of all abilities, within and outside curriculum time.

Adults Other Than Teachers

Can the south London team beat Eton college for a second time?

Having beaten Eton College 5-1 in their previous encounter, Battersea Technology College have a lot to live up to. Though their team is drawn from a limited pool of players, the south London comprehensive have a possible advantage over their public school rivals. Since becoming a Football Academy in 2005, Battersea have had the benefit of professional training from Errol Bignall, community coach at Chelsea Football Club. Will his training be enough to guarantee success against the older, taller and better resourced Eton side? Follow the Battersea team as they train with Errol, head of PE Neil Watson, and Mark Russ, a Year 10 teacher and the instigator of the inspirational away fixture. We also hear from players and teachers after the match, in addition to Glen Pierce, master of football at Eton College, who explains the significance of the fixture from his team's point of view.

Battersea v Eton

Find out how Chinese schools instil healthy living into learners

A fascinating and visually spectacular programme providing unique insights into how Chinese schools, and the country at large, value physical education. We also see the extraordinary lengths that schools go to in order to engender a lifelong habit of exercise. From the school run - done entirely on foot or bicycle - through to lunch with freshly-prepared ingredients, to a whole two hours of exercise every single day, the Chinese put a premium on exercise and healthy living. This programme shows the PE drills that every Chinese child undertakes throughout their school career, and it considers whether habits which to us seem harsh, such as rarely using central heating in schools, do in fact produce a healthy population. The programme considers the role of ancient martial arts in the country's physical education heritage. And it features the acupuncture-influenced eye exercises performed twice a day by millions of schoolchildren, which the Chinese claim improves eyesight.

China - Sport and PE

GCSE dance pupils choreograph a duet, for KS3/4 PE or gymnastics

With a GCSE dance piece by a boy and a girl, this short video is designed for use as a classroom resource with Key Stage 3/4 physical education (PE) or dance and gymnastics students. The two secondary pupils perform a duet based on the film Moulin Rouge, at Lister Community School in London.

Choreograph a Duet: Red Light

Dance choreography for a solo piece, for KS3/KS4 PE or gymnastics

With a GCSE dance piece about a tsunami, this short video is designed for use as a classroom resource in Key Stage 3/4 physical education (PE) or dance and gymnastics lessons. A student from Lister Community School in London performs a solo he has devised about the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, using flexible, flowing movements and body extensions in this lesson starter for secondary pupils.

Choreograph a Solo: Tsunami

Including disabled pupils in sports lessons at secondary school

Discussing the importance of inclusion for disabled pupils in relation to sports lessons at secondary school. Schools are required to ensure that pupils of all abilities have equal access to the full range of activities that take place within school, including sport. Despite this legal requirement, a survey carried out by the children's charity, Whizz-Kidz, found that a third of pupils with disabilities felt excluded from PE. At Ipsley Middle School in Redditch, children in wheelchairs are even included in hurdling. The school's subject leader for PE explains that it just means giving a little more time and thought to lesson preparation. The school has also found that other children are just as keen to include and assist children with disabilities during games.

Disability Equality - Inclusion in PE

Three schools demonstrate how they make PE inclusive for all

In this programme, three schools demonstrate how they have succeeded in providing physical education opportunities appropriate to the needs of each of their students. Beacon Hill in Ipswich is a special school that has evolved simple ways to make PE accessible for children with complex communication issues. Hall Green School in Birmingham is a mainstream school with a number of wheelchair users amongst its students, and PE lessons have been adapted accordingly. Students at Southfields Community College in south west London speak a total of 71 languages between them, with some pupils hailing from refugee families. Whilst the school still offers traditional PE lessons, it also provides less obvious options so that all students can find a sport that appeals to them.

Everyone's Included at Secondary

Bayley coaxes a '95 per cent' lesson out of a PE NQT

In this pedagogy resource a newly qualified teacher (NQT) is settling in well, but does have a problem. He's very confident in practical physical education (PE), but in theory lessons he has trouble asserting himself. When he tells behaviour expert John Bayley that he never likes to be seen as "the bad guy", John says he may have a practical solution, as shown in this classroom-management video. John observes Steve Davies' Year 10 class and discovers Steve has an excellent rapport with his students but is reluctant to push an instruction when it isn't obeyed. Consequently Steve's confidence is diminishing and he isn't getting the best from his Key Stage 4 class at Chiswick Community School. The following day Steve teaches Year 10 again, and this time applies John's advice. He's becoming a different teacher as newly gained self-confidence produces a "95 per cent lesson", according to John, with students bringing together practical and theoretical PE in a thrilling conclusion.

Professional Development for Quality Teaching

Subjects

> Secondary Physical Education