Physical Education
Why study Physical Education?
GCSE Physical Education is an interesting and varied course made up of both practical and theoretical elements. It will require commitment, dedication, motivation and a desire for knowledge. So if you have a passion for sport, and are involved in clubs in and out of school, then this is the subject for you.
What will I study in Year 10?
Health & fitness - components of fitness, fitness testing, principles of training, training methods, safety and warm up, seasons and periodisation.
Health & diet - diet, obesity, sedentary lifestyles, body types.
Systems - skeletal (bones), musculoskeletal (joints), muscles, levers, axes and planes, movement analysis, cardiovascular system, respiratory system.
Energy systems - aerobic, anaerobic.
What will I study in Year 11?
Sport psychology - skill and ability, skill characteristics, performance and guidance, information processing model, feedback and performance, goal setting and targets, motivation, arousal, mental rehearsal, personality and aggression.
Ethical issues - conduct of players, spectator behaviour, drugs, hooliganism.
Socio-cultural - participation - patterns, commercialisation - sponsorship, sport and the media, technology in sport.
How will I be assessed?
The human body and movement in physical activity and sport
Applied anatomy and physiology
Movement analysis
Physical training
Use of data
Socio-cultural influences and wellbeing in physical activity
Sport psychology
Socio-cultural influences
Health, fitness and wellbeing
Use of data
You will have two written exams, 75 minutes each, which are worth 60% in total for the above theory sections.
The NEA (practical performance) will be assessed by means of two components:
Practical performance 40%. Three activities: one individual, one team, and a third from either team or an individual activity.
Analysis and evaluation of performance to bring about improvement in one activity.
The examination board studied is AQA and the specification number is 8582. You can see the full specification here.
What else should I know?
There will be a degree of flexibility as to which activities are chosen and assessed.
You may participate in sporting activities outside of those that are normally covered by Farlington’s games programme. Most of these sports can be used as part of your NEA (non-exam assessment), as long as they feature in the specification.
A high level of commitment to extra-curricular activities will be required if students are to maximise their performance.
Students considering A-Level PE and careers in sports science, physiotherapy, teaching, coaching and journalism would benefit from this enjoyable, stimulating, challenging and active course.
If you have any queries about this curriculum, please contact: Mr Simon Faulkner, Director of Sport, on sdf@farlingtonschool.com