Using PE to boost cross curricular skills

CASE STUDY Combs Ford Primary School, Stowmarket, Suffolk

A Suffolk primary used the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority’s PE and School Sport (PESS) initiative to rejuvenate the entire school and boost the skills and independence of pupils with special educational needs.

Overview

Combs Ford Primary School is a larger than average community first school, with 537 pupils aged between five and nine. It was inspired to join the PESS investigation by the success that other local schools achieved through the QCA initiative.

Timetable for development

2004-05

• Objectives
  • To increase student participation in a healthier lifestyle.
  • To improve games attainment in Years 1 and 2.
• How they did it
  • Students were surveyed about preferred lunchtime activities.
  • Play leaders were hired to supervise lunchtime activities.
  • Play zones were created and new equipment purchased.
  • Students were rewarded for participation in new activities.
  • Core tasks were introduced for targeted year groups.
  • Lunchtime activity was linked to core tasks with specific focuses, such as skittle games which were always on offer in the playground. Laminated cards featuring pictures and simple instructions for games were made easily available and accessible to students of all abilitiies.
• Results
  • Number of students participating in activities at lunchtime doubled.
  • Games skills, balance, control and accuracy significantly improved in Years 1 and 2.
  • Student confidence and enthusiasm noticeably increased.

2005-06

• Objective
  • To improve performance of special educational needs
  • students in PESS.
  • How they did it
  • Lunchtime gym trails were introduced and students were    supported in using them four times a week.
  • Students were encouraged to become more independent when changing for games.
• Results
  • Dramatic improvement in the physical skills, drawing and
  • self-esteem of children in the targeted group.
  • As children’s confidence grew, so did their willingness to
  • join in classroom activities.

2006-07

• Objective
  • To improve PESS performance and the drawing and handwriting skills of reception students.
• How they did it
  • A gym trail was introduced which students enjoyed completing each week.
  • Gross and fine motor skills were made the main focus of activities with direct links to literacy and numeracy.
• Results
  • Impressive progress made in students’ movement, drawing and handwriting skills.

Contact information

Combs Ford Primary School
Glemsford Road
Combs
Stowmarket
Suffolk
IP14 2PN
Tel: 01449 613112
Web: www.combsford.suffolk.sch.uk

CASE STUDY The Deanes School, Benfleet, Essex (Secondary)

A sports college in Essex mined the huge potential of partnerships to launch the careers of gifted and talented students

Overview

The Deanes is a foundation school for 11 to 16-year-olds in Benfleet, Essex. After achieving sports college status in 1998, it decided to join external partners in adopting the DfES’s gifted and talented (G&T) strategy in PE and sport and has been recognised as a model of best practice in this area.

Timeline for development

Ongoing

• Objectives
  • To adopt the G&T strategy’s aims to coordinate the development of gifted youngsters both as sportspeople and as students, and to manage the demands placed upon them.
  • To use the new partnerships to improve the health of the wider community.
  • To provide an appropriate infrastructure through which to deliver the PE, School Sport and Club Links)  programme.
• How they did it
  • By creating solid partnerships with other schools, parents, coaches and national sports bodies such as British Gymnastics.
  • Each member of this extended family was given its own role and responsibility.
• Results
  • 300-plus students in the district were identified as performers at county to national standard.
  • The programme was extended to include other secondary schools (including an independent school and sixth form college) and was endorsed by their headteachers.
  • Gifted students received mentoring and support via the Junior Athlete Education programme, which helps students to balance school, sport and social life.
  • Each school was represented on a G&T steering group.
  • Timetable flexibility allowed students to attend masterclasses.
  • Students competing or training were encouraged to use laptops to keep on top of schoolwork and take responsibility for their own learning.
  • 80 students received sport science field-based testing.
  • 34 national performers benefited from access to sports science lab testing from the University of Essex including performance profiling and digital movement analysis.
  • All associated schools have a register of pupils showing potential in sport and PE.
  • Workshops in lifestyle management, performance profiling and performance planning are delivered by 17 members of staff trained by the Youth Sport Trust.
  • National bodies such as British Gymnastics were enlisted to improve the delivery of gymnastics in local primary and secondary schools; teachers trained, after-school clubs established, a high performance centre opened and a competitive festival introduced to the community
  • 26 staff are trained as mentors, including deputy headteachers and staff from other subject areas.

Recognition and continuing innovation

• A number of elite sports performers have flexible timetables, enabling them to integrate sporting and academic achievement.
• Further support packages, tailored to the needs of individual performers, include mentoring, lifestyle workshops and nutrition workshops.
• Deanes now has a Youth Sports Trust Advanced Practitioner Status award for personalised learning. It delivers seminars of inclusion and personalised learning for directors of sport and senior leadership teams at sports colleges.
• Deanes’ PE curriculum model, an inclusive curriculum using sport as a vehicle, is being disseminated to other sports colleges and school sport partnerships.

Contact information

The Deanes School
Daws Heath Road
Benfleet
Essex
SS7 2TD
Tel: 01268 773545
Web: www.deanesschool.co.uk/l

Further information

• PESS

To find out more about PESS visit www.qca.org.uk/qca_14057.aspx

• GIFTED AND TALENTED

For further details about Gifted and Talented work visit: www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/giftedandtalented/

• PERSONALISED LEARNING

Visit www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/long-term-learning-development-382

CASE STUDY Golden Hillock School, Birmingham (Secondary)

How accredited award schemes and alternative pathways helped key stage 3 and 4 pupils become leaders in self-confidence.

Overview

Golden Hillock is a mixed comprehensive for 852 11 to 16-year-olds in Sparkhill, an inner-city area of Birmingham. Three-quarters of the school population is Pakistani or Bangladeshi, the remaining students are largely from other minority ethnic groups.

The school joined the PESS investigation in 2004 as a result of the Qualification and Curriculum Authority’s work with Birmingham LEA. Since then Golden Hillock has achieved a Sportsmark Gold award.

Timeline for development

2004-05

• Objectives
  • To increase the number of key stage 4 students taking accredited PE courses
• How they did it
  • Performing, officiating and leadership pathways were introduced along with the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award and aspects of Junior Sports Leader Award (JSLA) at KS.
• Results
  • All 160 Year 10 students opted to take an accredited course
  • New pathways improved leadership skills and increased confidence

2005-06

• Objective
  • To increase students’ levels of physical activity, hoping to make an impact on their long-term commitment to a healthier lifestyle
• How they did it
  
  • KS3 scheme of work modified to include themes of health, fitness, leadership and officiating
  • KS4 programme reviewed and links made with KS3 scheme
  • Informal lunchtime activities introduced
  • Inter-form sports events extended
  • Personal fitness training offered to students with health or weight issues
  • Water bottles and canteen-based healthy options introduced
  • Healthy living display boards around the school
• Results
  • Number of girls attending after-school activities rose from 40% to 60%. A further 50 girls regularly attended mixed sport lunchtime activities
  • Number of students representing the school in sport or getting involved in community activities rose from 15% to 50%
  • PESS high quality outcomes achieved by students across all areas

2006-07

• Objective
  
  • To increase student involvement in healthier lifestyles with a view to improving upon self-confidence and decision-making.
• How they did it
  • Increased promotion of after-school clubs and activities
  • Student achievement and participation celebrated
  • Further development of inter-form sport and playground activities
  • Taster days set up for Year 6 students
  • Student fitness testing and one-to-one training and advice
  • Introduction of new accredited courses
• Results
  • Involvement in school and community activities increased
  • Student understanding improves, as does confidence in their leadership skills and performance

2008

• A special meeting
  • Pupils talked to and performed for Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes, National School Champion when she met the Golden Hillock School Sport Partnership members at the Ackers Adventure Centre in Birmingham. Dame Kelly got to see at first hand how Golden Hillock encourages not just schoolchildren but the community to take part in sport.

Contact information

Golden Hillock School and Specialist College for Sport and the Arts
Golden Hillock Road
Sparkhill
Birmingham
B11 2QG
Tel: 0121 773 8156
Web: www.goldenhillock.bham.sch.uk