A high quality provision of Physical Education should ignite a lifelong love for sport and physical activity in addition to equipping students with the passion and knowledge needed to lead a healthy, active lifestyle. Physical education explicitly teaches the necessary knowledge and skills for working with and relating to others, and provides the learning opportunities to develop these skills. It enables the development of leadership and teamwork skills and encourages students to transfer knowledge to other learning areas. It does this for example, by supporting students to work co-operatively in other subjects, or when working with groups in a leadership role in the school setting and in their lives outside school in sports clubs or community groups. This links to the whole school intent of developing the students’ depth of knowledge, having a richness of experience and developing their strength of character.
Physical Education at CCHSG is structured to provide students with the ability to perform a variety of skills and techniques across a range of different sports and physical activities. This provides a foundation upon which a student can progress and develop their ability to use tactical strategies to successfully overcome and outwit an opponent within a range of competitive sports and physical activities. Additionally, in Year 7 and 8 students have the opportunity to experience aesthetic sports such as Dance and Gymnastics. This introduces them to an entirely different set of physical skills, dance styles and gymnastic disciplines allowing them to produce unique choreography and use a range of analytical skills.
Years 9 to 11: Non-examination (core) PE
Once students reach Year 9 they have the option to pursue Physical Education as an examination subject. Students who do not wish to study PE as a GCSE, follow a programme of study that focuses on developing their practical skill, character development and sportsmanship. The focus is on promoting a positive mental wellbeing in addition to a healthy, active lifestyle. In addition to this, they continue to build on the basic skills and techniques learnt in Years 7 and 8 towards the implementation of skills that are more advanced, game play and tactical awareness.
Year 9 to 11: GCSE PE
The aim of our GCSE course is not only to prepare students for their next steps in education but also to provide them with a wide range of transferable skills useful in higher education, employment and future careers.
Year 12 and 13: Non-examination (core) PE
Students who do not wish to study Physical education at A Level, follow a programme of study that focuses on promoting positive mental wellbeing in addition to a healthy, active lifestyle, with lifelong participation in sport.
Year 12 and 13: A Level PE
A Level PE is an interesting and challenging course, which extends the knowledge learned at GCSE, as well as covering new content. They cover three key theoretical areas; Physiology and Anatomy, Sports Psychology, and Sports Sociology and Technology.
Co-curriculum and Extracurricular Activities
The department offers a wide variety of extracurricular and co-curricular activities, which allow students to experience new sports and activities not covered in lessons, or develop their skills in sports in which they already participate. In addition there are activities which focus particularly on helping students make sense of, and take responsibility for, their physical health and mental wellbeing. Extracurricular activities led by students themselves, along with coaching and umpiring opportunities, provide an opportunity to develop leadership skills, time-management and organisational skills. Some of these groups and activities include:
- Sports Leaders (Year 10, gaining the level 2 award)
- An extensive programme of lunchtime clubs, which changes on a half termly basis throughout the year, including; netball, football, tag rugby, cross country, swimming, yoga, table tennis, badminton, rounders, cricket, athletics and more
- Fixtures and competitions in a wide variety of sports; students have the opportunity to represent the school at district, county or even national level
- Inter-form competitions every half term for the whole school
- Annual netball tours (for the selected netball teams)
The department has extensive indoor and outdoor facilities. Indoor facilities include a large sports hall with 4 badminton courts, a large gymnasium, a dance studio, a 25 metre, 4 lane swimming pool and a dedicated classroom with resources for delivery of PE theory.
The school has extensive playing fields which are marked with grid areas in the Autumn and Spring term, and with a 400m athletics track in the Summer term. Outdoor areas include 4 rounders pitches and a long/triple jump runway with pit. In addition there are 3 netball courts with all-weather surfaces.
Opportunities for Further Study and Destinations
A Level Physical Education is accepted at all universities and gives access to higher education and sport related employment opportunities including sports nutrition, sports psychology, sports journalism and the leisure industry including personal training. Studying PE also gives students many transferable skills. For example many aspects of PE involve working in teams towards a common goal. Through playing team sports and problem solving with others, students develop clear communication skills, leadership skills, self-confidence and resilience.