Physical Education

Physical Education encourages a positive disposition towards physical activity and aims to develop lifelong learners and participants. Students are encouraged and taught to work together both cooperatively and competitively to apply the skills of a sport, learnt in previous years, to the broader game setting. These concepts, skills and strategies are developed throughout the Middle School Physical Education programme and students are encouraged to transfer these from activity to activity.

We emphasise that the attainment and maintenance of a good level of fitness is connected to healthy living and that this is the personal responsibility of the individual. We place significant value on the continued development of socially acceptable behaviour relevant to the sporting environment and seek to develop the student’s ability to work with, supporting and challenging a partner or as part of a team.

The curriculum and teaching philosophy aims to ensure maximum activity time. To achieve this, the games are modified in terms of numbers and equipment, and rules and strategies are introduced appropriate to each grade. We also encourage depth of skill, knowledge and experience with the objective to develop confidence and competence in sporting activities.

Students are taught and assessed continuously during lessons and will be reported on their strengths in three areas- active living, movement competency and personal and social interaction.

Students in Grade 6-8 are taught in their advisory groups. Differentiation plays a major part in lesson planning to take into account the marked maturational and experience differences between individuals.  

Our diverse curriculum provides opportunities to experience a range of activities. All students take part in two 75-minute periods of Physical Education per week, covering seven different activities during the year. Students will be assessed in one or more areas of achievement from active living, movement competency and responsible behaviours during each unit.

A typical programme includes one or more of the following activities taken from seven physical activity domains.

1. Court-based

   • Basketball

   • Netball

2. Field

   • Touch

   • Contact Rugby

   • Football

3. Aquatic activities

   • Swimming

   • Water Polo

   • Kayaking

   • Water Survival Skills

4. Movement

   • Gymnastics

   • Dance

   • Parkour

5. Athletics and health-related fitness

6. ‘Over the net’

   • Tennis

   • Badminton

   • Volleyball

7. Striking games

   • Softball

Middle School students also take part in three different ‘Days of Sport’: swimming, games and athletics. These fun-filled days are driven by and support the advisory group and house systems. Students are allocated to one of the six houses for the swimming and athletics days and compete against other houses. Each house contains students from each of the three Middle School Grades.