PE

Here at Egerton we aim for PE lessons to be fun, safe and insightful where we have created a positive learning environment accessible to all pupils. We encourage all our young people to engage in the vast array of sporting activities we offer. The PE department wants to ensure that our young people have the opportunity to access exercise and physical activity on a daily basis. This is because of the many benefits being physically active brings to an individual in terms of improving our physical and mental well-being.

"When you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine. For example, the feeling that follows a run or workout is often described as "euphoric." That feeling, known as a "runner's high," can be accompanied by a positive and energizing outlook on life."

Sportsmanship and Fair Play are at the forefront of everything we do. I am a strong believer that participants should play fairly and follow a clear set of rules in every PE lesson. Since my arrival at the school I have worked tirelessly to embed my philosophy. The environment I have created allows the children to feel safe and accept mistakes are just part of the journey to grow and achieve success. They have the freedom to express themselves without the fear of failure. We have many mantras in our PE department including; ‘train how you play’, ‘hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard, ‘and ‘progress doesn’t happen in straight lines’ to name a few. Staff are relentless in their pursuit to instil a growth mind-set in our students on a daily basis.

We offer a wide range of sports which include; Football, Basketball, Dodgeball, Padel, Handball, Softball and Ultimate Frisbee to name a few. Furthermore, we offer our students in years 7 & 8 a Fitness for Learning (FFL) programme which they access first lesson every day (please refer to the Specialist Approaches tab on the website). The idea behind this initiative is to help certain students to wake up in a morning and burn off built up energy. Research has proved that physical activity improves student’s concentration and focus so they are ready to access their academic learning in other lessons throughout the day.

This is a pivotal tool we use to identify an individual or teams’ strengths and weaknesses, monitor and measure progress, provide instant feedback , helps to improve skills and enhance overall performance. Students are able to identify common misconceptions in their techniques and address them quickly to help them develop and build confidence. We also use modelling from either a professional sports person (on the internet) or teacher/teaching assistant to analyse and compare these to how the students are performing in a particular skill or activity. Students respond positively to these visual ai ds and it enhances their understanding of the expectations of them to make progress. In addition to this, the sports hall is covered with visual aids and keywords which relate to some of the key aspects of their learning in PE. We consistently refer to the se and challenge the students during lessons and we base most of our questioning around these displays.

Students in year 7 & 8 are taught all the aspects of a team sport ranging from passing and dribbling (technical skills) to attacking and defending (tactical skills). In year 9, students are introduced to individual sports including badminton , padel, pickleball and table-tennis. They are taught how to use different tactics and strategies to outwit an opponent. The majority of the learning material which students access during key stage 3 links into the Sports Studies qualification which they move onto in KS4 (year 10 & 11).

All students who move into year 10 will start their Sports Studies qualification This is a two-year course which consists of 1 Exam and a controlled NonExamined Assessment (NEA) in the form of a project (please refer to the progression journey document to see the different content areas). The NEA is a formal synoptic assessment that requires learners to independently apply an appropriate selection of knowledge, understanding, skills and techniques, developed through the full course of study, in response to a real-world situation to enable them to demonstrate an integrated connection and coherence between the different elements of the qualification.