The physical education curriculum offered at Bower Park Academy is both traditional and diverse. New and exciting activities are constantly being provided, and are well received by the students. For example, basketball is a traditional sport at which the academy has had district success, and handball, though a relatively new addition to the curriculum, is an event at which we have already had national success.
The facilities available for the delivery of PE are superb. We boast a sports hall, gymnasium, state-of-the-art gymnastic centre with sprung floors and all gymnastic apparatus, full-size AstroTurf football pitch, fitness suite, dance studio, playground and all-weather surface netball/tennis courts. We also have a field with two football pitches, a rugby pitch and 400m running track in the summer. We have the full use of Havering-atte-Bower Cricket Club during the summer term.
We insist on an excellent standard of kit from all our students, which encourages them to be fully prepared for every lesson and also when participating in extra-curricular activities. Students are taught in single-sex classes and, in some cases, mixed-sex classes for practical lessons.
Aims of the department
For each child to develop their skills, knowledge, attitudes and personal health, not only within the realm of physical education, but in education as a whole.
General Outcomes
- Students develop positive attitudes towards physical activity.
- Students develop an awareness of their bodies, their potentials and their limits.
- Students develop an awareness of the relationship between a sound body and a sound mind.
- Students experience fun and enjoyment through a wide range of physical activities.
- Students develop an awareness of the need for regular exercise.
- Students acquire a knowledge and understanding of recreation.
- Students are given the opportunity to realise their full potential in the area of skill acquisition.
- Students are given an opportunity for self-expression through movement.
- Students’ social, emotional, intellectual and physical development is enhanced through the physical education programme.
- A child’s social, emotional, intellectual and physical development is enhanced through the physical education programme.
- We endeavour to ensure that all students have full access to the curriculum, especially those with special needs.
Specific Outcomes
- To realise the importance of correct skill acquisition for the purposes of performance and safety.
- To provide planned learning situations appropriate to the social, emotional, intellectual and physical level of each child, so they may develop at their own rate.
- To create an awareness of the need for physical activity.
- To develop an understanding about physical fitness and its relationship to heath.
- To develop students’ communication skills.
- To participate fully in every PE lesson. If a student is ill or injured, they will be expected to get changed into their kit (where appropriate) and take a suitable part in the lesson, for example scoring or timekeeping.
Key Stage 3
The key stage 3 curriculum aims to build on students’ work from key stage 2 and provide them with a comprehensive and varied physical education programme. Students have the opportunity to participate in the following activities during the key stage 3 curriculum:
Football, rugby, netball, handball, rounders, cricket, athletics, badminton, gymnastics, basketball, trampolining, dance, fitness and cross country amongst others.
Students receive two hours of high-quality physical education per week in years 7 and 8, with three hours per fortnight in year 9. Alongside the physical education curriculum, there is also a wide and extensive range of extra-curricular clubs available for students during lunchtime and after school.
Key Stage 4
At key stage 4, students participate in two hours per fortnight of high-quality lessons in core PE in year 10, and three hours in year 11.
GCSE Physical Education
Exam board Edexcel
Students have the opportunity to develop their physical education knowledge further by choosing to opt for GCSE PE. These students will gain a further three lessons per fortnight of GCSE PE lessons. This course is currently broken down into 60% practical and 40% theory in year 11 and 70% theory and 30% practical in year 10.
The practical element of the course involves students participating in a number of activities throughout the two years to gain four practical assessments (year 11) and three practical assessments (year 10).
These activities include netball, football, hockey, rugby union, badminton, table tennis, tennis, rounders, cricket, volleyball, trampolining, handball, swimming, personal survival, life-saving, athletics and dance. Students will also create a piece of written coursework as part of the PE exam, which involves answering questions about an activity of the student’s choice and then analysing and improving performance in that specified sport.
The theory aspect of the course involves a 1 hour, 30 minute exam at the end of the two year course for year 11. For year 10 there are two exams, one of which one lasts 1 hour and 45 minutes and the other 1 hour and 15 minutes. Some of the topic areas covered in this part of the course are as follows:
Year 10
Autumn Term: Components of fitness. Various fitness testing activities. Badminton practical for boys and netball practical assessment for girls.
Spring Term: Training principles and methods. Training zones. Football practical for boys and badminton practical for girls.
Summer Term: Injuries in sport and prevention of injuries. The body systems and how they work; skeletal, muscular, circulatory and respiratory. Tennis, cricket and athletics practicals for boys. Rounders and athletics practicals for girls.
Year 11
Autumn Term: Media and spectators in sport PE and the curriculum ,mock exam. Basketball and handball practicals for boys. Circuit training for girls
Spring Term: Politics of sport; Olympic and international sports events and sports injuries, sponsorship in sport. Circuit training practical for boys. Swimming practical assessment for girls
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Head of Department: Miss C. Ridpath
