Physical Education

The department aims to provide an enjoyable learning journey, offering opportunities for every pupil to develop physically, emotionally and socially. We aim to do this through a structured curriculum offering a range of sports and physical activities, whilst meeting individual needs. Activities are taught through competition and practice, explorative, independent and collaborative learning.

As a department, our ambition is to help students to discover a sport they want to participate in and thus lead a healthy active lifestyle when no longer in school. We also want students to understand more about sport science, anatomy and physiology as they progress, especially towards examined routes in the subject.

Curriculum

We cover a wide variety of sports in Physical Education (PE) ranging from traditional games such as hockey, netball, football and rugby to gymnastics, health-related exercise and swimming. At Key Stage 3 we aim to offer a wide variety of traditional sports and at Key Stage 4 and 5 we try to include health and fitness activities to expose students to activities they may continue to participate in when they have finished their education.

We aim to equip students with knowledge about health and well-being as well as how to live a healthy, active lifestyle. We also aim to deliver knowledge of components of fitness, warm ups and cool downs and how to design a training programme during practical lessons. At Key Stage 3, we aim to give students a basic knowledge of the rules and tactical understanding of the games they are participating in, whilst at Key Stage 4 we aim to explore this in more depth whilst linking each activity back to the theoretical aspects of PE. Examples of these include the muscular system, skeletal system and components of fitness.

At Key Stage 4 we teach GCSE Sport through AQA as well as BTEC First Level 2 in Sport. We study a range of topics including health and fitness, anatomy and physiology and sport psychology.

At Key Stage 5 we teach BTEC Level 3 National Certificate in Sport and cover topics including anatomy and physiology, business in sport and fitness training and programming.

The curriculum in Year 7 is designed to enable students to gain knowledge of rules and basic skills, before moving on to Year 8 where they learn to implement these skills in performance situations. Year 9 then considers the application of tactics and strategies underpinning these skills within the sporting activity. The theory topics are also progressive each year, starting with Muscular and Skeletal Systems, before moving to Planes and Axis in Year 9, preparing them for GCSE/BTEC lessons. The exam classes are then designed to teach the underpinning knowledge first, such as Components of Fitness, before moving on to a more difficult topic where this knowledge is required, for example Training Methods.

Literacy and numeracy is embedded within each lesson and regular homework enables students to research rules and tactics of the sport they are currently learning to encourage literacy. End of topic tests are compulsory every half term, which encourage reading and allow us to assess knowledge and understanding of each sport. Numeracy is embedded within each lesson through scoring and running tournaments. An example of this includes using odds and evens during scoring and serving when playing badminton.

PE plays a big role in the wider school curriculum with students often feeling proud to represent The Cotswold School in fixtures and County Tournaments. The organisation of House Events such as swimming, hockey, football, tennis and sports day provide students who don’t often get the opportunity to represent the school in competitive sport to compete against others to gain points for their house.

Approaches to learning and assessment:

Our approach to learning is to provide active, engaging lessons building on prior knowledge supporting the most able of performers whilst also providing scaffolding for those less able in a sporting context.

We assess knowledge and understanding through questioning in plenaries and end of unit tests. At the start of each year we fitness test students to gauge assess physical ability and revisit these during the year. We also play competitive matches and tournaments against other schools as well as house matches to assess practical ability and progress.

At the end of every four week activity block we assess pupils using STEP assessment. This stands for;

  • Skilful me – This is the ability to replicate skills in isolation, drill environments and in a competitive environment.
  • Team me – This is the ability to share ideas and concepts with teammates, support and work effectively with others and demonstrate respect for teammates, opponents and leaders/officials.
  • Educated me –This is the ability to demonstrate knowledge of the sport specific rules and regulations, understand most of the key coaching points of core skills and demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theoretical content.
  • Physical me – The ability to apply most of the components of fitness to the sporting activity and get involved in extra-curricular activities, either inside or outside of school.

Based on the four components listed above, students are marked in line with GCSE grading 1-9.

In GCSE and BTEC Sport classes, students are assessed at the end of each topic with exam questions from past papers to assess knowledge and understanding.

Supporting Individual Students

We have a sport Teaching Assistant to support those with specific needs, separate changing rooms, stretching and mobilisation and adapted equipment. We also offer coaching and umpiring opportunities for those injured or not participating. For those that do not have/bring kit, we have kit they can borrow or the opportunity to leave it with us in a secure space.

There are many opportunities for stretch and challenge within Physical Education. We are able to provide challenge for the most able sports performers through competitive fixtures, club leadership, primary school leadership and officiating. We can also provide opportunities for stretch and challenge through participation at extra-curricular clubs regardless of ability level, adapted equipment and other educational resources.

Extra-Curricular Opportunities

We have lunchtime recreational clubs and after school training for all age groups in sports such as; football, gymnastics, rugby, dance, hockey, badminton, netball, cross country, table tennis, rounders (summer), tennis (summer), athletics (summer) and cricket.

We also offer a sport and activity weekend to Condover Hall in Shropshire in the Summer Term for Years 9 and 10. We will also be planning an International Sports Tour in the next couple of years.

Key Stage 3 Curriculum Map 

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Year 7  September – Half Term                                          November – Easter  Summer 
Girls Hockey, Netball, Gymnastics Hockey, Swimming, Badminton, Netball, Gymnastics/Dance, Rugby Tennis, Athletics, Cricket, Softball, Rounders
Boys  Cricket, Rugby, Football Rugby, Health Related Exercise, Swimming, Football, Handball, Badminton Tennis, Athletics, Cricket, Softball, Rounders
Year 8 

Autumn

Spring 

Summer 

Girls  Hockey, Swimming, Badminton, Netball, Gymnastics/Dance, Rugby, Dance, Football, Table Tennis Hockey, Swimming, Badminton, Netball, Gymnastics/Dance, Rugby, Dance, Football, Table Tennis Tennis, Athletics, Cricket, Softball, Rounders
Boys  Rugby, Health Related Exercise, Swimming, Football, Badminton, Basketball, Table Tennis, Handball Rugby, Health Related Exercise, Swimming, Football, Badminton, Basketball, Table Tennis, Handball Tennis, Athletics, Cricket, Softball, Rounders
Year 9 Autumn Spring Summer
Girls  Hockey, Swimming, Badminton, Netball, Gymnastics/Dance, Rugby, Dance, Football, Table Tennis Hockey, Swimming, Badminton, Netball, Gymnastics/Dance, Rugby, Dance, Football, Table Tennis Tennis, Athletics, Cricket, Softball, Rounders
Boys  Rugby, Health Related Exercise, Swimming, Football, Badminton, Basketball, Table Tennis, Handball Rugby, Health Related Exercise, Swimming, Football, Badminton, Basketball, Table Tennis, Handball Tennis, Athletics, Cricket, Softball, Rounders

Key Stage 4 Curriculum Map 

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Year 10 Autumn Spring Summer
Girls Hockey, Fitness Suite, Badminton, Netball, Dance, Health Related Exercise, Football Hockey, Fitness Suite, Badminton, Netball, Dance, Health Related Exercise, Football Tennis, Athletics, Cricket, Softball, Rounders
Boys Rugby, Fitness Suite, Football, Basketball, Badminton Rugby, Fitness Suite, Football, Basketball, Badminton Tennis, Athletics, Cricket, Softball, Rounders
Year 11 Autumn Spring Summer
Girls Hockey, Fitness Suite, Table Tennis, Netball Options n/a
Boys Rugby, Fitness Suite, Football, Badminton Options n/a