At Queen Anne’s, we teach Physical Education (PE) to develop physical competence and knowledge, to promote a positive attitude towards physical activity and to encourage values of cooperation, leadership, teamwork, sportsmanship and respect.

Girl throwing discusWe aim to meet each individual pupil’s needs through a wide range of activities and teaching styles and look to promote an understanding of realistic goal setting within PE and an ability to identify personal strengths and weaknesses.

For us, a twin focus of aspiration towards being the best whilst ensuring inclusion and opportunity for all is essential to ensure the well-being and development of our pupils.

The program at our school not only allows our students to manage their time effectively to help them with their academics, it has also given our athletes fantastic opportunities to head to university overseas, where we have created strong links with some top universities.

Queen Anne’s fields teams in lacrosse, netball, tennis, cross-country, athletics, swimming, cricket and trampolining as well as junior and senior dance companies. There is a strong Charter Competition structure which gives even more students the opportunity to experience playing in a team. Pupils can also arrange to take dance examinations through extra dance lessons or have tennis, badminton or squash coaching in addition to normal PE lessons.

A new venture for 2021 is the development of a senior football team in partnership with Berkshire Get Active Women’s football academy.

 

Pupils have the opportunity to study GCSE and A level Physical Education to take advantage of their own sporting prowess and to delve further into aspects of physical and mental preparation for sport performance.

Extra-Curricular Activities

In addition to our curriculum, sports clubs are offered throughout the week, including early in the
morning, at lunchtimes, or after school to improve performance.

For example

  • early morning swim training;
  • netball shooting clinic;
  • lacrosse goalkeeping and stickwork clinics;
  • dance academy;
  • rowing ergo training;
  • tennis training
  • and athletics training.

As part of the Saturday Morning Programme additional recreational activities are offered, typically badminton, climbing, fitness, recreational tennis, cricket, trampolining, and Zumba. These are open to all students, whatever their age or level of ability.

Queen Anne’s runs an extensive fixtures programme and offers plenty of squad training opportunities. At junior level, Queen Anne’s fields A-D teams in netball, A-D teams in tennis and A and B lacrosse teams. There are junior swimming, cross country, athletics and trampoline squads as well as a junior dance company. Matches take place after school during the week and on Saturdays. We offer one-on-one support to the top sports performers, providing them with fitness, nutritional and sports psychology advice. The aim is to ensure that they manage to balance their training requirements with their academic commitments, in order to maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

There is a strong house competition structure which gives even more students the opportunity to experience playing in a team. Students can also arrange to take dance examinations through extra dance lessons or have tennis or squash coaching in addition to normal PE lessons.

Lower School Curriculum

At Queen Anne’s, we teach Physical Education (PE) to develop physical competence and knowledge, to promote a positive attitude towards physical activity and to encourage values of cooperation, leadership, teamwork, sportsmanship and respect. Queen Anne’s offers excellent sporting facilities which reflect the school’s strong sporting ethos and emphasis on physically educating all its students. For us, every pupil should be active, looking to improve and challenging themselves. Opportunity and encouragement are high on the agenda as physical activity features so significantly in the wellbeing and development of pupils. Those that are aiming for elite level are offered the challenge they require and additional support to help them manage their way successfully up the performance pyramid. 

Many of our students go on to represent their county, or join a club to compete regularly having left school and some go on to represent their country. The small class sizes and expertise within the PE department ensure the level of ability of all students is catered for and encouraged.

Aims

We aim to meet each individual students needs through:

  • Experience of a range of individual and team sports
  • Use of a variety of teaching styles
  • Feedback in conjunction with goal setting
  • Developing pupil ability for self analysis

Curriculum

L4, 4s and U4 (Year 7, 8 and 9)

Students have two 80 minute lessons per week where they learn and develop skills in a variety of sports supported by the comprehensive co-curricular programme. Through these activities, students will improve their communication, teamwork, creativity, problem solving and leadership skills. They will learn to abide by and accept rules whilst learning how to cope with success and failure.

Middle School Curriculum

OCR GCSE (9-1) PE J587

The combination of physical performance and academic challenge provides an exciting opportunity for students to learn about the world of sports and physical education through a range of different contexts and the impact  it has on everyday lives.

Students will perform in three sports and through the academic study learn how to analyse their own performance and apply theory to improve it. They will learn the reasons why coaches do things, why some people out perform others, mentally and physically. They will also delve into the ethical considerations behind the use of drugs and also gain an understanding of the consequences of inactivity and poor diet. The course has three components to it.

Component 1: Physical Factors Affecting Performance
Anatomy and physiology and the physical training which underpins performance. Learners will start to explore the way in which the parts of the human body work and function during physical activity and physiological adaptations that can occur due to diet and training. They will also develop their knowledge and understanding of the principles of training, why we train in different ways and how training plans can be made to optimise results.

Component 2: Socio-cultural Issues & Sports Psychology
Learners will develop their knowledge and understanding of sports psychology theories related to acquiring movement skills and optimising performance. They will also learn about the socio-cultural influences that impact on participation and performance in physical activities and sports, as well as physical, emotional and social aspects and the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle.

Component 3: Performance Within Physical Education
Performance in three practical sports from the approved list and a performance analysis task in one sport. 

Requirements 

As the contribution of practical sports performances to the overall mark is significant, it is crucial that any students considering this option are competent in three sports from the approved list. They must be competing regularly across the L5 and U5 years in the three sports for the school team or outside of school at a club in their chosen sports. In addition, it is expected that all candidates will have a high level of fitness  to enable them to access the highest scores for their sports performances.

Examination

Assessment: 60% of the overall mark
Component 1: One hour -Physical factors affecting performance via short answer and extended response questions.
Component 2: One hour -Sociocultural and sports psychology concepts via short answer and extended response questions.

Non Examination Assessment

Assessment: 40% of the overall mark
Component 3:  Practical performance in three activities form the approved list – 60 marks. 
Analysis and Evaluation of performance Task (AEP) – 20 marks

Sixth Form Curriculum

A Level Physical Education

A fascinating subject for those interested in understanding how the body works and how to train both body and mind for peak performance and healthy living.

There is a chance to perform or coach a sport and combine this with academic challenge centred around the science of performance and the prominent role sport plays in our everyday lives. In summary, this is a relevant and topical subject with a ‘hands-on’ practical element.

Aims

To gain an understanding of the physiological and mechanical basis of performance in sport, the psychological factors influencing behaviour in sport and the historical and modern day issues in sport. To apply the theory to the student’s own sporting performance or coaching role.

Syllabus - OCR H555 (2016)

Component 1: Physiological Factors Affecting Performance

  • Anatomy and Physiology
  • Exercise Physiology
  • Biomechanics

Component 2: Psychological Factors Affecting Performance

  • Skill Acquisition
  • Sports Psychology

Component 3: Socio-Cultural Issues In Physical Activity And Sport

  • Sport, society and technological influences

Component 4: Non-Examination Assessment

  • Performance or coaching practical
  • Performance Analysis task (EAP1)

Examinations

3 examination papers and two Non-Examination Assessments (NEA).

Component 1: Two hour examination paper (30%)
Component 2: One hour examination paper (20%)
Component 3: One hour examination paper (20%)
Component 4: Non-Exam Assessment (30%)

  • Performance or coaching capability in one sport
  • Performance Analysis Task (EAP1) in one sport

Other Subject Combinations

Physical Education can be combined with a range of other A Level choices, but often compliments biology, physics and psychology particularly well.

Potential Degree Courses and Career Choices

Dietitian, Occupational Therapy, Pe Teaching. Personal Trainer, Physiotherapy, Sports Injury Therapist, Sports Management, Sports Marketing, Sports Science

Academic Stretch

Challenging yourself in sport physically is about discovering what can give you the edge, physically or mentally. Sport is highly televised and you can watch elite level performers in every sport to observe technique and compare to your own. Have you checked that you are fuelling your body for maximal training and performance? What could you do to be mentally tough to come away from a loss stronger?

What can you do to challenge yourself?

Key Stage 3:

  • Maximise your skill practice time: practice makes perfect. Clubs and performance training are available at school in all the sports we compete in. Do you have access to a lacrosse rebounder, netball post or tennis court in the holidays?
  • Make the most of training camps through school or via the ELA/ LTA/netball clubs.
  • Practise deep breathing to calm nerves before matches
  • Know the rules and the umpires decisions for rules in your sport
  • Develop your leadership skills by volunteering to take warms up or cool downs

Useful websites

Key stage 4:

  • Improve your tactical understanding of more advanced plays like settled attack in lacrosse, zone defence in netball, switching in tennis doubles
  • Are you fit for your sport? Is your base aerobic fitness and speed endurance there to maintain intensity throughout your competitive performance and speed recovery? There are fit for sport sessions several times a week.
  • Make sure you plan food and hydration for tournaments to enable you to maintain peak performance; experiment with what works best for you
  • Prepare motivational music for the coach trip to fixtures
  • Set short, medium and long term goals to enable you to make good progress
  • Do you know how to play the rules to their limits but remain within the bounds of sportsmanship?
  • Develop your leadership skills by offering coaching advice in clubs to peers for the sports that you excel in
  • Select GCSE PE to link your practical ability to anatomy and physiology concepts

Useful Websites

Academic PE

  • Video each other’s technique to analyse your skills and identify  areas to improve
  • Search out a coaching manual for your sport in the library and read up about the fitness, skills and tactics for your position
  • Try and apply the theory to your performance in sport; that will make it easier to remember
  • Use the revision resources on the One Note
  • Implement the vocabulary provided in the glossaries (given both in class and available on the OneNote) to demonstrate the ability to use accurate specialist vocabulary when answering examination questions.
  • Draw on knowledge from both sides of the syllabus when answering the 6 mark question and effectively implementing relevant practical examples into answers to provide a well balanced, well evidenced critical analysis.
  • Apply AO1, AO2 and AO3 points in a clear order with developed and reasoned explanations.  
  • Draw on a wide range of resources and use references to support knowledge submitted in coursework
  • Comparing and contrast personal fitness results to normative data in a variety of fitness and skills tests to provide a comprehensive overview of ability for the coursework

Key Stage 5:

  • Practise using mental rehearsal to visualise yourself successfully completing advanced skills or turning round a bad situation to your favour
  • Practise negative thought stopping techniques to manage anxiety. Articles on this can be found online and in sports psychology books in the library.
  • Consider your training load, do you need to periodise your training? What about a taper before key events?
  • Develop your coaching and umpiring skills – take sports leaders award, come and umpire at club sessions with the junior, take coaching qualifications in your top sport. The PE department promote local opportunities and the governing bodies of sport also have a wealth of information about opportunities to develop coaching and umpiring in your sport
  • Devise a stretch programme to keep your muscles long and minimise the risk of injury
  • Work on pilates to strengthen the core to protect the back for long term wellbeing
  • Research nutrition for sports performance and consider whether you are taking on the right fuel and hydration to maximise training gains
  • Select A level PE to further develop understanding of the theoretical concepts of sports psychology and exercise physiology that underpin sports performance

 Useful Websites

Academic PE

  • Observe team practices of another year group and watch a player. Practise identifying strengths and weaknesses and planning an action plan for improvement
  • Record a clip of a top sports performer and link their performance to as many theory concepts as possible. Practise this initially as a written exercise and ultimately as a spoken verbal commentary
  • Improve your ability to answer the extended 10 or 20 mark questions by answering and self-assessing using past papers and mark schemes from the OCR website.
  • Select an EPQ topic that will develop your knowledge in an area of personal interest that will take your understanding to the next level.
  • Take the initiative and seek out through the PE department, the governing body website or local clubs, opportunities to volunteer in your sport and to qualify as a level 1 or 2 coach. For those selecting the coaching option over practical performance for assessment, this can help develop your skills and evidence a higher level of coaching capability
  • Read around the subject using relevant journals such as the British Journal of Sports Medicine, British Journal of Sports Psychology etc.
  • Additional texts for further reading can be found in the Queen Anne’s library, e.g. sports specific coaching manuals and books on exercise physiology, the sociology of sport and sports psychology.
  • Taking on leadership roles such as Sports prefect, lacrosse or netball captain. Could you act as an ambassador for PE by assisting staff with GCSE and A Level options evening or coaching/umpiring younger years?


Read the autobiographies of top sports performers and coaches ..it’s very inspiring!

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