Physical Education Activities

Physical Education is an important area of the crriculum that will help a child develop holistically. The role of a primary school teacher is to produce a lesson which is fun, active, safe and to create a place of learning in order to motivate and encourage the children to participate fully in Physical Education. Through different activities and pedagogy the primary teacher can include each aspect within their lesson. When teaching all six strands within the primary curriculum a teacher should most importantly aim to “to promote enjoyment of, and positive attitudes towards, physical activity and its contribution to lifelong health-related fitness” (Physical Education Curriculum, 1999, p.11)

Safety is one of the first issues a primary teacher should address when engaging in a Physical Education lesson with their class. There are three areas that must be looked at before beginning each lesson. It is crucial that the teacher checks the Pe area before allowing their class to use the facility identifying any leaks or spillages. A safe space should be marked out around

14) . Most importantly the chosen activity should be “deliberately matched to each pupil’s current skill level and potential.” (Severs, 2003, p. 14). Rules and safety instructions should always be identified to the class before the lesson begins “instruction should be repeated and pupil’s understanding continually checked.” (Severs, 2003, p. 14) The teacher should be consistently watching their class to maintain a safe environment

It is extremely important that a teacher ensures that’s their class is active during their lesson. As discussed in the book “Developing Teaching skills in Physical Education by Daryl Siedentop and Deborah Tannehill” an important way of ensuring a class is active is to be an active teacher yourself thus motivating and encouraging students to participate.