Curriculum Road Map: PE
Curriculum Statement: PE
Scope
The Physical Education department inspires all students to succeed in a variety of sporting activities. At Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, core PE lessons aim to develop competence in a range of activities. The student’s skill levels, physical fitness, and a broad understanding of strategy and technique is delivered through a unique ‘Mind, Body and Soul’ concept. Our curriculum uses three pillars of education to enhance student’s over all competence, ensuring that students are developing building blocks for their physical skills (BODY) through developing their understanding and tactics (MIND) and what makes a healthy confident lifestyle (SOUL)
Students develop character, understanding, UCS Life Skills, as well as physical fitness through a range of varied activities. The curriculum road map illustrates the variety of activities that cover specific aspects of team and individual sports; aesthetic techniques through dance and gymnastics, and outdoor and adventurous challenges. The breadth of activity allows students to develop a crossover of skills that are in turn analysed and improved through the development of confidence, understanding and whole child development. Enhancing the National Curriculum requirements allows the department to ensure students are assessed in various aspects of Physical Education, developing skill as well as problem solving, teamwork, communication skills, independence, and resilience. (Our University Collegiate School Life Skills). As well as the variety of activities offered, PE is used as a vehicle to enhance students, not only performance. These transferable skills are enhanced across all curriculum areas.
The department is ambitious and growing. The department has improved facilities that are utilised on site and on the University campus. Future projects include a sports hall, dance studio, fitness suite, MUGGA and roof top activity area. These developments highlight the ambition and drive within the department to ensure students have the absolute best opportunities.
Work across the authority and best practice governing bodies such as the YST and AfPE allow us to ensure that we are providing the most supportive curriculum for our students.
Sports Science follows the OCR Cambridge Nationals specification. Uptake for the course is developing year on year with results consistently within and beyond student target grades and above whole school results. Data illustrates the growth in the department where students in 2019 achieved (100% pass rate and 72% grade 4 and above); students in 2020 achieved (100% pass rate and 85% grade 4 and above) and with currently 16 students at year eleven and 26 at year ten studying the course, the department growth is evident and based on achievement. Sports Science is delivered over 4 units of work, including 3 coursework-based units of fitness & training; nutrition and sports technology. The final exam unit is based around the safety in sport and prevention of injury. Sports Science is an optional subject which links to our whole school specialism of health sciences and engineering. Health Science is delivered in the form of injury treatment, fitness training, body responses, nutrition, and health developments. Engineering is linked with sports technology and digital enhancements. These synoptic links support work in science with respiration; digital skills with analysing performance; and nutrition with healthy eating.
Moving forward, the ambition of the department is to deliver GCSE Physical Education in line with new facilities and to link with the strong university links and facilities with developing a course that filters into the sports rehabilitation and physiotherapy at undergraduate levels.
Coherence
The rationale for the structure to the curriculum is a ‘whole child’ approach. The unique ‘Mind, Body & Soul’ concept allows delivery and assessment to enhance not only skill and fitness but the wider character and understanding developments of all students, at whatever level needed.
The activities are broad and varied, however, the delivery of the curriculum is not reliant on the activity. The activity is incidental and the development of all aspects of the child is more powerful. The whole child development and assessment is a repeated theme that holds the curriculum development together and is bigger than traditional one-off sport activities. Lessons are delivered using different activities as a mechanism to progress student’s tactical awareness, confidence, leadership and understanding. Every half term over the year the activities change as the road map suggests, however, the development of student's crossover skills, tactical understanding and confidence are repeated with every activity delivered. Mind, Body & Soul assessment is part of every lesson with the focus on the national curriculum aims to develop overall competence and understand how to be healthy and engage competitively.
Students are assessed in the three aspects and made aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Some students will progress and focus on fitness in sport, and some may focus on developing how to coach others skills in unfamiliar situations. Lessons will provide the opportunity to use the sport activity chosen to progress any concepts developed at Key Stage 2.
Students are constantly applying the building blocks of the MIND BODY SOUL concept that allows for students to enhance previous knowledge in previous context to embed and develop understanding and in turn competence. Memory and links to prior learning is developed and part of the delivery of PE lessons. The structure of the activity choices is sufficient to offer a range but not too varied so as to dilute the competence of the students.
Sports Science Cambridge Nationals follows the specification guidelines, however, links with KS3 core PE lessons allows for faster progress and knowledge foundations to be developed at exam level. The theory aspects of KS3 allows students to be fast tracked through the foundation levels and progress students to the higher-grade boundaries. The building blocks developed in KS3 allow students to recall knowledge for a faster progression at KS4 examination classes. The school digital strategy and resources allows the curriculum to be delivered and recorded through Microsoft 365 OneDrive, chunking the units of work in to manageable time frames. Units have synoptic links across the whole specification and the delivery of the UCS Life Skills within lessons.
Curriculum Sequence
Core PE is sequenced around the needs of the groups. At each year group, developments and expectations are assessed ensuring students can be the absolute best they can be in all three aspects of competency. The road map illustrates how the complexity of each activity progresses which sits alongside the assessments criteria and the expectations of evidence needed to meet the criteria. Lesson delivery is typically assessment based with students made aware of the expectations of their year group and personal progress targets. The Mind, Body & Soul concept is shared and delivered with students and has clear progression targets at each year, and stage, over the years in PE. The starting point for students is dependent on stage, not age, and students build their building blocks across the three pillars to ensure that development is solid and competence is enhanced with strong foundations.
Sports Science is sequenced in accordance with the specification assessment dates. Students initially access Unit R042 (Fitness and Training) that has synoptic links with KS3 science and theory concepts in Core PE. Unit R041 (Exam Unit – Injuries and Treatment) is followed to support the mock exam timetable in year 10. In the year 11 roadmap, students develop unit R045 nutrition and unit R046 technology. The units have synoptic links that develop memory and contextualised examples from different aspects of sport. Students see the road map of examination PE with targets and grade expectations. Links across the curriculum is part of the delivery. The fitness and training unit sits perfectly as the starter unit in KS4 as the theory aspect of KS3 core PE is linked to practical understanding of the unit specification.
Rigour
Rigour within the department is based on team planning and whole school assessment procedures and the department follows whole school policies with respect to teaching and learning, and assessment and monitoring. The T&L strategy of the 5 P’s allows consistency within and across different lessons and the assessment structure ensures that typical lessons are linked to UCS Life Skills and confidence to adapt to the real world and employability opportunities. Activities at both KS3 core PE and Sports Science are structured around the facilities available, yet the standards in delivery are consistent with the assessment of the students. Students are made aware of their strengths and improvement opportunities through whole class feedback and specific targets based around either ‘mind, body and soul’ criteria or student checklists in examination classes. Opportunities for the students to progress in all aspects of Physical Education is evident in lesson observations and student feedback. Furthermore, the progression within tracking documents highlights the student's strengths and weaknesses. All students are taught by both members of the PE team and regular meetings and discussions around progress, behaviours and delivery are in place to secure consistency through internal moderation and assessment.
Memory
The Physical Education department delivers varied activities that require the repeated assessment of generic skills. As skills from across the various aspects of PE are learned, repetition and developments are embedded as students become more competent, confident, and expert in their technique and understanding. Memory of skills is embedded through applying skills in varied activities and situations. Memory of understanding of technique and strategy is embedded through officiating and coaching of peers. The development of student coaches and leaders is enhanced with the school digital strategy and access to video analysis and perfect model examples. Students thrive on coaching each other new concepts that in turn develop their peers and their own understanding and skill levels.
Students are aware of their expectations and targets through verbal feedback and consistently demonstrate drive to improve on previous lessons. Self-assessment and peer assessment, as well as teacher feedback allow students to progress quickly.
Sports Science units of work are linked to self assessment checklists. Students can assess their own and others work, giving feedback which allows for a deeper understanding. Synoptic links between units ensure components are revisited and developed. The contextualisation of the Sports science units through others subjects and careers links allows students to link concepts and remember the theory needed for the coursework and exam assessment of the subject. Data analysis of exam results allows for staff to ensure delivery and adapt to ensure students have the chance to recall information and link to other units when needed.
Regular whole class feedback is used to address any key misconceptions and set review targets. This will be verbal feedback in every lesson, particular to KS3 PE, with written feedback following on in examination PE. Student review tests, both theoretical and practical allow for students to highlight their recall levels and adapt their knowledge in examination style environments, be it unit tests or practical group demonstrations.
The UTC Fingerprint
The Physical Education department at the University Collegiate School aims to enhance physical fitness and ensure the students develop the knowledge and confidence to embed and accelerate progression. The analytical skills and problem solving that blend with the physical activity experience contributes to the UCS Life Skills that operate across the whole school Teaching and Learning. The concept of teaching the whole child, not merely just physical development, is embedded from year 7 and enhanced with links to the University facilities, extracurricular challenge and celebrating success every lesson. External providers and elite experts in different sports contribute to the delivery and opportunity. Coaches from professional establishments create an added context and links to the sport employment models. The UCS fingerprint is PE is to enhance students across all three pillars, developing the whole child, not just physical attributes. The department enhances the understanding of analysis of performance and undergraduate skills through the digital platforms in school that are used to combine research in sports performance and allow students to develop competence with self and peer assessments.
All links with outside agencies follow the ‘Mind, Body & Soul’ concept to always develop students in every aspect of their personal development.
Sports Science examination classes specifically look at 3 chosen optional units, fitness; nutrition and technology. Throughout the units, students are able to access training facilities from the university sports science department and link personal training to the content. The nutrition unit highlights the need for a healthy life style in life as well as linking to nutritionists and career opportunities in similar fields; and the technology unit links with the school digital strategy highlighting the new roles in sport that are heavily reliant on new enhancements. The fingerprint of the examination classes is to deliver using the context of sport so as to enhance personal development and improve opportunities with the University of Bolton and the understanding of employment opportunities.
Pedagogy
All delivery is based around the assessment criteria to ensure students are aware of the three tier framework; understanding; skills and coaching (Mind, Body & Soul). Kagan structures and teamwork, with an emphasis on peer assessment, is used in most delivery with pedagogy that encourages independence, problem solving and the other UCS Life Skills. Digital strategy is part of the student self assessment, peer assessment and the research into developing their leadership qualities and student teacher roles. In Sports Science the lessons are delivered using the UCS Life Skills which ensures students gain an understanding from different examples of theory and sporting contexts. Students follow the ‘do now’ task and in turn follow the 5 P’s which will focus on independent tasks with the digital application of OneDrive as well as develop other Life Skills through debate, challenge and problem solving. The lessons are planned using the structure of the road map with the UCS fingerprint in mind so as to enhance more than just the examination gradings.
Assessment
Assessment is both continually (formative) and summative. Expectations for each student are based on the requirements age-related expectations, which are defined for them in our Body, Mind and Soul progress document. Assessment looks at stage, not age, informing students of their needed improvements and ensuring lessons link to the progression stage of the class. Activity assessments are used to put the PE skills to practice and opportunity for students to demonstrate evidence of their levels. Lessons have ability groups within the organisation and differentiated tasks are used to accelerate students at their individual levels. Students are aware of their groupings and drive to take on the opportunity to ‘showcase’ their progression to the more able tasks.
In Sports Science follows the specification criteria. The demands of the units and the marking criteria is shared with students who are aware of the checklists that develops self assessment and awareness of the development needs. Students have termly formal feedback on specific assessment of coursework (SIR Form). This feedback is used to ensure that students are aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Whole class feedback allows students to discuss class misconceptions and link their own work, the unit checklists and peer assessments to support progress tasks. Do Now tasks are often linked to check points that students can highlight through their ipad use.
Culture
Students in PE are expected to attend every lesson with a full UCS PE kit. Students who are ill or injured, but in school, are expected to bring PE kit in and act as coaches for the varied aspects of the PE curriculum. Students are motivated to take part in all activities and understand that demonstrating a willingness to ‘try’ and ‘explore’ is part of the assessment and expectations. Students are also aware that in activities where they are less skilled, the coaching and understanding of the activity is just as important as the physical ability.
Students are excited to try new activities and share their knowledge. The opportunities from outside club level coaches supports learning and influences the progression to extra curricular clubs and outside teams.
Part of the National Curriculum, the UCS PE department creates a ‘can do’ culture through exciting lessons and extra opportunities for outdoor education with planned sessions in the summer term that link students to our University group Outdoor Ed centre.
During Sports Science, deadlines are important and the use of self assessment checklists encourage homework and higher grade criteria to be completed. Students who are missing work or fall behind for varied reasons have the opportunity for intervention classes. These classes are well attended when needed due to the parental involvement and tracking.
Systems
The department utilises the best practice from AfPE, Sport England, YST and strong departments locally with high expertise. Sharing the ideas from other schools and governing bodies allows the department to be at the forefront of delivery, ensure the students meet their potential, whilst keeping in line with the department vision.
The PE hub meetings and PE advisors support the foundations and structure of the delivery.
Sports Science is constantly reviewed at a national level with new specifications enhancing regularly. The work with OCR and training opportunities ensures that the curriculum is moderated and delivered accurately to allow students to succeed. The whole school T&L strategy is implemented to create systems that provide consistency, accuracy and progress.
Policy
Our curriculum is specific to the facilities that the school has. Students all experience 2x 50 minute lessons that are delivered by different teachers and involve different activities. This enhances the cross over of skills and the variety of activities the students experience. Verbal feedback to students is discussed during lesson time and any video analysis is used to improve discussion and understanding between teachers, teacher-student, and student-student. The emphasis on standards, pace and pedagogy that involves team work and resilience contributes to the sound behaviours across lessons. Students confidence and enjoyment allows lessons to flow with little disruption. Lessons have high standards with students participating in full uniform and with sound behviours. All students without kit or with poor attitudes is rare, however, parental involvement and reciprocal conversations are encouraged to ensure progress is developed.
In Sports Science, students have clear expectations which are covered across 5x 50 minute lessons over 2 weeks. Student work follows the digital strategy and blends group discussion and teacher led presentations with independent research and student work completed on Microsoft OneDrive. Students use the checklists to create homework that is constant and self driven.
