As the link governor for PE, it was a pleasure to visit the department and meet with the Head of PE, Mr Thompson, just before Christmas.
We discussed how new activities such as speed walking, gym equipment, yoga and boxercise have been introduced for core PE. Year 9 and Year 10 now have 13 different activities in 3-week blocks across the year, and 2 weeks for ‘super-curriculum’. This means that students have the opportunity to try a wider range of sports, with the aim that everyone will find something that they enjoy. There are more individual sports and students can choose personal improvement goals (improving personal performance across several lessons), if they would prefer to do this rather than to compete with other members of the group.
The Year 9 6-a-side football tournament and a ‘World Cup’ tournament including commentators and ‘Man of the Match’ have been very popular this year. Mr Thompson was pleased to see lots of students who have not previously participated in team sports enjoying these tournaments and discovering new skills.
In the Sixth Form, BTEC Level 3 PE has been a successful addition to the options available. Students now have the choice between A Level PE or BTEC Level 3, which has a bigger emphasis on coursework. Feedback from students has been very positive for both courses.
I also enjoyed seeing the new fitness suite and MUGA (multi-use games area), which Mr Thompson tells me are very popular with the students! Thank you, Mr Thompson, for an informative and interesting tour.
Dr Vicky Hardwick
Community Governor
