Physical Education

The OAKS Partnership School Direct Physical Education course attracts Trainee Teachers from a wide variety of backgrounds. You may be a recent graduate in Physical Education or you may have worked in a range of occupations prior to commencing the course which will have provided you with an opportunity to develop your subject knowledge and wider experience of education and work. Whatever your background, you will have a passion for sport and an enthusiasm for physical fitness and a strong desire for conveying this to pupils and students.

P.E. is a compulsory element of education that enables everyone to take part and reach their own level of engagement. For many a high-quality PE education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a desire to be fit and healthy and their talent as young sports people, and so increase their self-confidence, fitness and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they should develop their own skills and techniques in a large number of games (including football, cricket, netball, hockey, tennis and badminton, etc.), gymnastics and maybe swimming and dance.

Having an identity as a physical educator, and the ability to aid coaching of the many sports and related activities, as well as giving up many hours for clubs and school teams are essential to a successful P.E. teacher. You will build on your existing skills as a sportsperson and develop your subject knowledge in areas of weakness. You should be open to experiencing different styles and a large number of sports, some of which may well be totally new to you, and be prepared to also teach GCSE, BTEC PE and A level theoretical P.E. and maybe a second subject at Key Stage 3.

An important part of the course is learning to create a stimulating and caring environment. To help create such an environment, you need to be enthusiastic and lessons need to be well planned and related to the needs of pupils; not everyone enjoys sport! They need to be conducted in a well-organised way with a positive approach to control. You will be able to prepare in advance for handling different situations, develop strategies for maintaining discipline and managing the learning in an outdoor and sports hall environment.

Key models for the teaching of P.E. are analysed and different styles of teaching are explored. You will be encouraged to read widely and to employ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to record and target improved sporting technique, demonstrations and warm ups, drill/activities as well as effective plenaries and self-assessment.

While the course aims to help you meet the Teaching Standards which qualify you to teach, it also has wider horizons which encompass the Induction (Newly Qualified Teacher) Year and the early years of teaching. Many of our ex-Trainee Teachers progress rapidly through the profession so we provide you with an appropriate foundation in knowledge, skills and understanding for meeting the teaching, administrative and management demands which lie ahead.

To sum up, the course aims to help you become a competent, professional and, above all, creative teacher, capable of developing the sporting abilities and physical fitness of the young people with whom you have the privilege of working.