PULSE


To find out more about these qualifications and how to enrol, come along to one of the free Kent information sessions at


Aylesford Village Hall on Thursday 16th July 4-5pm and Baypoint Leisure Centre, Ramsgate on Tuesday 14th July 4-5pm.


Book your place by emailing Julie Burnes at jcb1959@hotmail.co.uk Please note that, although they are free, booking is essential for these events.


responsibility. Whoever takes on the role of PE Subject Leader needs to be well prepared for a leadership role and have sufficient understanding of the subject to support and develop other staff who may be less confident. So the question arises; where are our in- house experts going to come from?


This is where the pieces of the jigsaw start to come together. We are charged with using the PE funding sustainably and getting more children active. What better way to do that than to upskill teachers so that we have a workforce in schools who teach PE confidently, engagingly and progressively, ensuring that all children have the skills and drive to succeed? Even better if we can ice the cake with a PE Leader in each school who is an expert in their subject, with a clear vision for its development and the skills to support and develop other teachers.


We need to invest in our teachers and subject leaders to give them the tools to do in PE what they do so well in other areas of the curriculum – teach! They are already experts in pedagogy, assessment for learning, differentiation and behaviour management. All they need to understand is how to translate these skills into PE lessons and be clear about what children need to learn. They need to know that Physical Education and Sport is not the same thing and that they don’t need to know the rules of cricket to teach striking and fielding games in PE. The question is: how do we develop


The Kent & Medway School Sports Magazine 11


PE Leaders in every primary school that have the expertise to drive the subject from within? A few schools already have them and many more have teachers who, with the right support, can take this on. This is where the next part of the jigsaw puzzle falls into place; the new Level 5 Certificate in Primary School Physical Education Specialism and the Level 6 Award in Primary School Physical Education Subject Leadership. These nationally recognised, accredited qualifications have been developed through a partnership between the Association for Physical Education and Sports Leaders UK and aim to equip those with a lead role in delivering PE in primary schools with a deep understanding of the subject. The government have cited them as a cornerstone of their strategy to improve PE and Sport in schools and Ofsted has highlighted using the PE funding to enable staff to access the qualifications as best practice.


As for access to wider professional development provision, this is where it gets tricky. Whenever schools are furnished with a pot of money for a specific purpose the door opens to a plethora of organisations, anxious to relieve them of their money. It is the law of supply and demand. Primary schools looking for professional development and support are finding themselves besieged by coaching companies, sports governing bodies, School Sport Partnerships, offers of help from local secondary schools and independent providers (people like me!). The challenge for schools is to take control of the situation; weed out the quality providers. Be clear about what you need and ask the right questions to make sure you get what you want. There may be plenty of money in the pot, but you will need to account for the impact that has been achieved.


So how can schools ensure that they are getting value for money? The answer is to be clear about what outcomes you want from the support / CPD and to assess your potential providers’ ability to deliver them.


Sportscoach UK have an excellent portal on their website to help schools ensure that they are getting the best from coaches. You can find it by going to www.sportscoachuk.org and using the search function to find the ‘Coaches in Schools portal’. For guidance on effective professional development and a checklist of key questions to ask potential providers of CPD, please go to www. blueprintconsultancy.co.uk/resources_ links . You will also find audit templates here that you can use with your staff to assess their professional development needs.


Be wary of coaching companies offering to be the solution to all your needs. Remember – we are dealing with Physical Education, not sport. How many coaches have the expertise in assessment for learning, differentiation, pedagogy and behaviour management that your teachers have? A few, but not many. The good coaches, however, have plenty of subject knowledge and ideas for activities coming out of their ears . When they work alongside a teacher there are endless opportunities for mutual learning and development, but don’t let your teachers defer to the coaches; they have studied long and hard to become experts in the way that children learn and develop, they know how to facilitate learning and when you set this alongside the coaches’ subject expertise you have something that can really work. So there you have it. The legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games; the opportunity for primary schools to lead the development of Physical Education and School Sport for themselves and secure a high quality experience for generations to come. Are you ready to make it happen?


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