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Physical education


		11-16 schools

		6th form schools

		Colleges

Examples of enterprise learning in key stage 4

Case study 1

A group of year 11 students undertook a survey of former students to find out how many of them had continued to involve themselves in any sport or physical activities. The response showed that very few did continue. The group was set the challenge by their teacher to come up with a possible solution to the problem and to trial it with the current year 11 cohort. The group came up with the idea of a ‘freshers’ fair. They contacted local community sport clubs and health clubs including the YMCA, outlined what they wanted to happen and invited them to attend the fair one evening after school. Club representatives set up displays and gave presentations about what they did and how and when young people could join. Some brought along forms so that students could join on the spot. The fair became a regular event in the school calendar.

Case study 2

A local radio sports reporter visited a key stage 4 physical education group to talk about her media work, passing on information about how she got started and describing the skills and attributes required for the job. She undertook several small ‘fun’ activities with the students. One involved the students watching a three-minute TV news report and editing it down to a 15-second sound bite for the radio. Each student then had an opportunity to read it out in front of an audience. From this session, a group of students at that time unable to participate in active games sessions received permission to develop an idea for a project that they had discussed among themselves. A key aim was to develop their communication skills. First, they videoed a mixed hockey match, then edited the film and finally, put a commentary to the action. The final version was shown in the school foyer during the lunch break and after school. A copy was sent to the media reporter asking for feedback. It was also used by the physical education staff for coaching purposes.

Case study 3

A group of year 11 students decided that they would opt to take A level physical education with a view to taking up careers in the sports, leisure and recreation sector. They were keeping their options open but teaching physical education was considered one possibility. The students realised that achieving extra qualifications would enhance their chances of getting onto a good diploma or degree course and eventually a job. They researched what qualifications were available, how they might help in the future and the time involved. They did not all do the same awards. Some did a preliminary sport coaching course in tennis and volleyball while others did life-saving and personal survival awards in swimming. All of them did a first aid award. This involved attending a specially devised training programme for one hour each Monday evening for five weeks, organised by the local St John’s Ambulance group. Two of the students joined the St John’s Ambulance and became active first aiders.

Case study 4

Students in the lower school complained that they were being bullied by older students at lunch time. To help solve the problem, the head of lower school asked a group of students in his year 11 physical education group if they would become ‘buddies’ to the younger students, and look after them during the break for one day each week. The buddies discussed the situation and decided the best thing to do would be to a form a lunch club where the younger students could participate in safe activities such as table tennis, chess and other games. They were also able to find a room for use as a quiet room. The year 11 students were also asked to come up with strategies for dealing with the ‘bullies’ but not in an aggressive manner. The recommendations received ranged from sending letters to parents, making and displaying a black list of names and confronting the ‘bullies’ with witness statements from their ‘victims’. The latter was quite successful because, even though their names were not mentioned, no one enjoyed reading about what they had done to upset younger people.

Case study 5

A secondary school decided to adopt a local charity for one year and during that time undertook many different activities to raise money for it. Students were asked to come up with ideas for fund-raising activities for both small and large numbers of students. A group of physical education students came up with the idea of organising a special fun run for everybody: students, staff, parents and governors. All competitors had to pay £1 to enter the race and each person who finished received a specially designed certificate signed by a famous local sports person. The run was over a 5 km course. The students marked out the race, put up distance signs and supervised the competitors and spectators. They also undertook the warm-up beforehand - a musical aerobics session, provided refreshments and ensured that qualified medical people were on hand during the event. The local education authority health and safety manager and the head of the physical education department helped the students undertake a risk assessment, which was required before the headteacher would agree to the event taking place, and for insurance purposes.

Case study 6

A secondary school in Yorkshire became a pilot school for the Healthy School initiative and the physical education department, collaborating with the science and the food technology departments, were key promoters of the initiative in the school. There were two aspects: healthy eating and undertaking exercise. The former involved such things as promoting a healthy diet, eg five portions of fruit and bread each day, a breakfast club, campaigns and displays. The physical education students organised an exercise programme that catered for different levels of fitness. Sessions were organised for three lunch times each week in the gym. One-to-one sessions with people of the same gender were available for shy, sensitive or busy students. The sessions proved very popular and many participants attended regularly. This led to the students keeping health training records for each participant based on simple fitness and health tests, eg pulse rate, step-ups. For the serious athletes this involved being weighed and measured. This developed skills in using statistics.

Case study 7

A group of year 11 students decided they wanted to do something with one of their community partner schools. They decided to organise a special ‘Alternative Olympics’ event for students in a nearby special educational needs school. Many of the students had already visited the school undertaking community service and were aware of the special sports facilities available and the different needs of the students in the school. The students had to work out what events the students could do safely. They decided to have all the aspects usually associated with an Olympic games with one or two variations. For example, all participants received a medal. The students acted as supporters in more than one sense of the word: they cheered the students on and physically supported some of the students to complete some of the events. Soft toys and padded furniture were common and no harm came to the young people. Popular events included ‘putting the shot’, steering wheel chairs around obstacles and balancing awkward objects on parts of the body for lengths of time.

Case study 8

During Enterprise Week a number of different activities were run by different departments. One enterprise activity undertaken by the physical education department involved the running of a local football club. The local football in the community officer was invited into school to work with the group. The students divided into small groups to choose the name of their new team and the colours they would be playing in. The group was responsible for all aspects: the fitness and training programmes for the players; selection and tactics for matches; the marketing and sales; finance; advertising and sponsorship; hospitality and catering; ground safety and maintenance. It was possible to link the activity with the computer game ‘Championship Manager’ and through it play games and record results. The quality of decisions made was reflected in the effectiveness of the team playing on the screen. At the conclusion of the activity, the board of directors had to report back on their activities at the annual general meeting. In other years the school has used rugby, basketball and hockey and local representatives from their sports.