Course Choice SQA Courses

Staff

• Mr H. Flett (PT)
  
• Ms S. Ewen

Department

Stromness Academy has achieved national recognition, a Gold School Sport Award, from sportscotland for the work being done in the school to continuously improve physical education and school sport opportunities.

In our department our overarching aims are for pupils to:

• Be Active

This could be physically active in practices and game situations or mentally active when planning for tasks, describing performance and working with others during partner and group work.

• Challenge Yourself

We try to differentiate all tasks so pupils can work at their pace yet push themselves out of their comfort zone to achieve greater success.

• Reach Your Potential

This leads to pupils gaining more enjoyment from our subject so they are more likely to take part in sport and physical activity once leaving school which has a positive impact on their mental and physical health.

PE Department Rules

Be Safe…

• Wear a change of clothing – shorts/tracksuit bottoms/leggings, T-shirt, Shoes

If you do forget to bring kit you can borrow some of ours. If you forget kit 3x in a term a letter will be sent to parent/carer so they can help to remind you.

• Remove jewellery, watches and braces (if removable).
• Wear mouth guards when appropriate.
• Tie long hair up.
• Show respect to staff (listen & follow instructions) and other pupils (be supportive).
• Show respect to equipment (carry equipment safely; don’t throw / kick equipment into open spaces).
• Do not leave any valuables in the changing rooms – hand them in to your teacher for safe keeping; staff do try to lock changing rooms but don’t always remember.
• If you are injured or unwell bring a note from parent/carer to excuse yourself from PE – staff will give you non-practical work to do.
• If you are going to be late for class (dentist appointment, music lesson, etc) let your teacher know.

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Facilities:

Stromness Academy uses its facilities during curriculum time and after school until 5pm. After this time, the public can book them by contacting the school.

We have a four badminton court games hall incorporating badminton, short tennis, volleyball, indoor football, basketball, netball plus other uses.

We also have a multi-purpose gymnasium used for activities such as dance, gymnastics, basketball, badminton and table tennis.

And a fitness suite with a variety of weight machines, treadmills, bicycles, a cross trainer and a rowing machine.

Outdoors we have a grass pitch, used for rugby, football and athletics, an outdoor netball court and an all-weather 3G pitch, used for football and hockey. There is also a permanent orienteering course set up around school grounds.

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Courses

Course Choice

BGE

PE elective

Senior Phase

PE N5

PE Higher

PE AH

PE Sports Leadership

Core Physical Education S1-S4

All pupils are required to take part in core Physical Education which is in line with the Scottish Governments expectation that schools provide at least two hours of quality physical education for every child, every week. In core PE they will be given the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of physical activities, sports, dance and outdoor learning in order to build on the physical performance skills, fitness and the understanding of concepts developed in primary school.

Throughout this course pupils will work by themselves, with a partner and in groups to experience a range of roles and responsibilities; this will allow them to develop their social skills in a supportive, inclusive environment. The course also provides an opportunity for pupils to observe closely, reflect, describe and analyse their own and others’ performance in order to identify development needs.

• In S1/S2 we teach a range of activities; invasion games (football, netball, hockey, basketball), net games (volleyball, badminton), target games (dodgeball) run scoring games (rounders), water based activities (swimming, life-saving) athletics, dance (creative and social), gymnastics, teambuilding activities and orienteering. We build a foundation for the core sports taught in Elective/Certificated PE which pupils can choose to do from S3 onwards.
• S1 pupils take part in a ‘Healthy Me’ inter-disciplinary project where PE staff work with staff from other subject departments to deliver a course focus on pupil’s health and wellbeing.
• S2 pupils are given the opportunity to take part in a three day residential outdoor education experience.
• In S3 we introduce new activities (such as tennis, table tennis, handball, golf) into core PE to give pupils different experiences. We also give our S3 pupils a fitness suite induction, do fitness profiling and show pupils how to develop their own personal fitness.
• In S3, with the help from Active Schools, we deliver an ‘I Can Lead’ Sports Leadership Award. This is a nationally recognised award which helps pupils to develop the skills required to lead groups of people in sporting activities.
• S3 pupils can also choose to do Elective PE (two extra lessons per week) where the focus is on performance development in preparation for National 4/5 PE in S4.
• In core PE in S4 we aim for personalisation and choice. Pupils choose/opt into activities after class discussion (sometimes this depends on timetabling issues and teaching space available). Some activities are teacher led and some are recreational.
• S5/S6 pupils are given opportunities within their timetable to come down to the PE to take part in recreational PE and/or use the fitness suite.

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Senior Phase S4 – S6 Certificated Physical Education

The PE Department delivers National 4/5 PE, Higher PE and AH PE.

In certificated PE we focus on three core sports, volleyball, basketball and badminton, as these sports are played in the community, creating a sporting pathway. However, in order to be inclusive, PE staff are very willing to assess the performance of pupils playing in other sports out-with school. We have in the past assessed dance, netball, football, golf and horse-riding performances at a variety of levels out-with the school day.

We also deliver an SCQF Level 5 Qualification in Sports Leadership/Community Sports Leadership for pupils interested in developing their leadership skills in a sporting context.

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Extra-curricular

The PE Department offers at least one activity each lunchtime and after-school on Tuesdays. These activities are led by staff and our team of Sports Ambassadors/Leaders and we encourage pupils to get involved and let us know what activities they want to do. Over the course of the year we may run netball, badminton, volleyball, tennis, basketball, football, table-tennis, step aerobics, Parkour and minor games activities and have given pupils opportunities to use the fitness suite. See Lunchtime & After School Activities for further information.

Once a term we aim to run Inter-House sporting competitions led by our Sports Leaders where classes compete against each other to earn House points. The activities on offer are varied; for example this session, during the week of Sports Relief, Inter-House dodgeball competitions were organised and staff v pupils’ competitions in volleyball and dodgeball.

The Department also organises an annual Sports Day where the normal timetable is cancelled and pupils take part in a variety of sporting events, have a barbecue for lunch and watch their staff compete in their own set of races at lunchtime. This is another House event with classes from each House competing against each other to win the Phil MacKay Trophy and the Fair Play Trophy, which is awarded to the class demonstrating the best sporting conduct throughout the day.

Stromness Academy is also in a unique position of giving pupils opportunities to take part in sport during ‘Friday afternoon Activities’. Staff and pupils lead a variety of sporting activities (football, rugby, netball, minor games, hockey, table tennis, yoga, badminton, dance); there is a big uptake by pupils to take part.

The PE Department is committed to giving pupils the opportunity to take part in competitive sport against other schools, both on and off the island. We have an annual calendar of events for competitions against Kirkwall Grammar School and some of the Isles Schools which includes basketball, volleyball, rugby, football and netball fixtures; these sporting competitions take place during the school day. We are also keen to take pupils south to compete in national events and this session we took pupils down to three Scottish Volleyball Festivals played in and around Aberdeen.

Leadership Opportunities

Netball Trip To Shetland (January 2023)

Sports Day Winners –

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