Physical Education

At OPGS we believe that sport and physical exercise are for all and the curriculum should enable all students to achieve, in a supportive and rigorous environment. Our objective as a department is to encourage a positive mindset that ensures all students develop competence, resilience, confidence and self-belief in a way that supports their health, fitness and future development.

The years 7-9 Physical Education programme offers a broad and balanced curriculum that challenges all students, irrespective of an individual’s sporting ability.

Year 7 students focus on the development of basic core skills, tactics and strategies for a wide range of team and individual games, broaden their KS2 sporting experiences. Students are also given the opportunity to self-reflect and analyse their performances to achievement their personal best. Students are actively encouraged to access a broad range of extra-curricular sports clubs that allow them to further their progress and enjoyment of core PE sports. This includes competitive opportunities in district, county and national competitions.  

Year 8 students focus on the continued refinement of core skills, tactics and strategies for a wide range of team and individual games. Additional focus is placed upon students tactical and strategic understanding of sports, allowing them to be more effective as an individual or team performer. Students continue to self-reflect on performance whilst learning to work with others in this capacity. PE staff continue to encourage students to access a broad range of extra-curricular sports clubs that allow them to further their progress and enjoyment of core PE sports. This includes competitive opportunities in district, county and national competitions.        

Year 9 students focus on the development of more advanced skills, tactics and strategies for a wide range of team and individual games. Students are expected to demonstrate progress in the above areas and the ability to provide more personalised self-reflection and peer analysis. Students are actively encouraged to maintain a range of extra-curricular sports clubs that allow them to further their progress and enjoyment of core PE sports. This includes competitive opportunities in district, county and national competitions. Some students begin to specialise in sports that will be used for assessment within GCSE PE during years 10&11.

The school prides itself on the large amount of curriculum time given to Physical Education. The early promotion of physical education and sport is essential to achieve a lifelong love of physical exercise and participation in sport. As such students receive six hours of physical education per fortnight (two double and two single PE lessons) at OPGS.

Additionally, it is essential for all students to experience a level of competition and the sporting values this promotes.  This is achieved through inter-house sports competitions and the extensive extracurricular sports programme that is currently offered to our students.

All students undertake a carousel of the following activities:

Single PE lessons:

• Table Tennis- service, drives, push, smash, lob & gameplay (singles).  
• Gymnastics- locomotion, transfer of weight, balancing (individual, paired and grouped)
• Squash-racket & ball familiarisation, forehand, backhand, basic serves & gameplay.
• Basketball- ball familiarisation, passing & receiving, dribbling & pivoting, set shot, lay up and gameplay. 
• Cricket- catching, pick ups and stops, bowling, batting, gameplay & strategies.
• Ultimate Frisbee- forehand, backhand, catching, gameplay.

• Double PE Lessons:

• Football- dribbling/control/turning, passing, movement off the ball, shooting, tackling & gameplay.
• Rugby- ball familiarisation, passing & receiving, rucking, tackling & gameplay. 
• Athletics- sprinting technique (100/200/400m), pacing (800m), long jump, shot putt, javelin & relay handovers.
• Cricket- gameplay using the above core skills.

All students will undertake a carousel of the following activities:

Single PE lessons:

• Table Tennis -backhand push, service (forehand, backhand & pendulum), forehand/backhand drive, block shot and doubles gameplay.  
• Health Related Fitness - warm up/cool down, components of fitness, circuit training, interval training and continuous training, stretching.   
• Squash - racket & ball familiarisation, forehand, backhand, basic serves & gameplay.
• Basketball -passing & receiving, dribbling & pivoting, set shot, lay up, defence (zonal), attacking strategies (3 man weave) and gameplay.
• Cricket - catching, pick-ups and stops, bowling, batting, gameplay & strategies.
• Handball - overhead/underarm throwing, catching, movement off the ball, dribbling, shooting, defensive techniques, basic formations & gameplay.

Double PE Lessons:

• Football - dribbling/control/turning, passing, movement off the ball, shooting, tackling & gameplay.
• Rugby - ball familiarisation, passing & receiving, rucking, tackling & gameplay. 
• Athletics - sprinting technique (100/200/400m), pacing (800m), long jump, shot putt, javelin & relay handovers.

Cricket - gameplay using the above core skills. 

Exam board: AQA

 

Exam board: AQA

Exam Paper 1:

• Applied Anatomy and Physiology
  • Cardiorespiratory system, respiratory System, neuromuscular system, Musculoskeletal system and analysis of movement in physical activities & energy systems.   
  •  
• Skill Acquisition
  • Skill, skill continuums, transfer of skills, impact of skill classification on structure of practice for learning, principles and theories of learning and performance, use of guidance and feedback, general information processing model & efficiency of information processing.
  •  
• Sport and Society
  • Emergence of globalisation of sport in the 21st century, the impact of sport on society and of society on sport.

Exam Paper 2:

• Exercise Physiology & Biomechanics
• • Diet and nutrition and their effect on physical activity and performance, preparation and training methods in relation to maintaining physical activity and performance, injury prevention and rehabilitation of injury, biomechanical principles, levers, linear motion, angular motion, projectile motion & fluid mechanics.
• Sport Psychology
  • Aspects of personality, attitudes, arousal, anxiety, aggression, motivation, achievement motivation theory, social facilitation, group dynamics, importance of goal setting, attribution theory, selfefficacy and confidence, leadership & stress Management.
• Sport and Society and Technology in Sport
  • Concepts of physical activity and sport, development of elite performers in sport, ethics in sport, violence in sport, drugs in sport, sport and the law, impact of commercialisation on physical activity and sport and the relationship between sport and the media & the role of technology in physical activity and sport.

• The non-examined assessment content:

  Students choose to follow one chosen activity from the list provided by the Department for Education, as a player/performer or coach.

  Activity list:

  Boxing, Football, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Camogie, Canoeing, Cricket, Cycling, Dance, Diving, Equestrian, Gaelic Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Hurling, Kayaking, Lacrosse, Netball, Rock Climbing, Rowing, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Sculling, Skiing, Snowboarding, Squash, Table Tennis, Tennis, Trampoline, Volleyball, Blind Cricket, Boccia, Goal Ball, Powerchair Football, Polybat, Table Cricket, Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Football or Wheelchair Rugby.

  The students work on core skills performed in various conditioned situations and performance in the full competitive scenario.

  The coursework comprises a written document of approximately 3500words, which focuses on the analysis and evaluation of a chosen performance.  The document focuses on the theoretical application to practical scenarios.

A wide range of lunchtime and after-school sports clubs are offered to students throughout the year. Many of these activities are different to those offered within the Years 7-9 Physical Education curriculum. The school also has an extensive fixture list providing students the opportunity to experience competitive sport and the values this promotes in district, county and national competitions. Information regarding school sports competitions and fixtures can be found on the school’s sport website. Please select the ‘school sports’ link below:

http://www.opgssport.co.uk/?id=509

The extracurricular sports timetable is emailed to parents on a termly basis.

Our enrichment programme sees all students take part in a number of Inter-House competitions throughout the year. These competitions play a key part in development of the House ethos we have in the school. All students are involved in these days, be that as players, coaches, managers, journalists or photographers, allowing students to experience all aspects of the sporting environment.