Teach Primary Issue 18.5

The Olympic Games being held in Paris this summer provide a great opportunity for schools to take inspiration from the sports involved, and bring a competitive element to PE lessons. The activities presented here are suitable for regular PE lessons or as an Olympics-themed special day to celebrate the Games and all they represent. Pupils will like the multi-sport structure, which offers something for all abilities and ages. This lesson is designed to make sure pupils have a jam-packed, fun sporting experience while meeting the Sport Premium key indicators. 1 | ATHLETES ASSEMBLE If you decide to run this as a full-day activity involving the whole school, why not start off with an opening ceremony (assembly) all about the Olympic Games? This will set the scene and spark children’s interest in trying out new sports. You can look at the history of the Olympics and make it interactive: What do the children know already? Can they name any famous Olympians? Do they know what the symbol is for the Games? Have they watched any coverage of previous Olympic Games? What’s their favourite sport to watch? Next, you’ll need to set up your stations. For this plan, five activities have been chosen: hurdles, a football challenge, badminton balance relay, shot put and Nerf target practice. You may wish to swap in others. 2 | YOUR OLYMPIC STADIUM Hurdles • The race distance can be 30m to 60m, depending on age group. • Add hurdles, at 10m intervals, to each lane. • Pupils begin in the set position, and the race begins on the whistle. • The order pupils cross the line determines placings. Coaching points: Demonstrate the correct way to jump over hurdles; ask pupils to try stepping over them first to help build confidence. The children should show control in their running and in clearing the hurdles. START HERE MAIN LESSON WHAT THEY’LL LEARN l Cross-curricular knowledge, including geography (which country pupils represent) and history (how the Olympics began) l Techniques and skills for ‘new’ or different sports l Working as part of a team l Understanding competition PE Begin by deciding how you want to run this activity within your school. There are a couple of different approaches you could take: • Dedicate a whole day and involve all pupils. Divide the pupils into coloured ‘houses’ – each house representing a country. Mix pupils so that all age groups are combined. Choose five sports to be your Olympic Games activities, ideally making sure one is from track, one is an invasion game, one is a field game, one is a net game, and one is a target game. • Alternatively, choose to build this format into your regular PE lessons. Divide the class into groups (countries) and get ready for short, sharp activities that will need close supervision. We recommend no more than five sports as above, allowing ten minutes per sport, with a two-minute window to change activity. Get sporty: The Five Rings Festival of PE Capitalise on the Paris Games with this flexible Olympics-inspired event from Jordan Southgate KS1 /KS2 LESSON PLAN @PremEducationUK premier-education.com 76 | www.teachwire.net