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Thinking Outside the PE Box

Thinking outside the PE box is a resource designed to introduce daily physical activity into Secondary Schools.  Many people are aware of resources such as ‘Take 10’ and ‘Wake up Shake up’ aimed predominantly at Primary aged children and the benefits of these, with the differences in set up the introduction of such schemes in Secondary settings has obvious difficulties. 

 

The resource is a collaboration between Norton Hill Secondary School in Bath and North East Somerset, the Department of Health and the National Healthy Schools programme.  The resource is broken down into four sections:

  • a 5 minute taster film
  • a 25 minute film with more detail about the initiative
  • a series of ‘how to’ clips
  • a downloadable School information pack.

The resource looks at various different activities to use that have been tried and were successful at Norton Hill.  Some of the ideas include skipping, yoga or tai chi, walk around a country, multi-skills bag, shake up or theory sessions on being fit and healthy.  There are brief session outlines in the information pack for the activities mentioned, along with details of space required and the time frame for each session. 

 

This programme not only aims to increase the amount of physical activity within Secondary schools but staff have also reported improvements in behaviour, relationships within peer groups and pupils motivation and concentration.

 

The programme steers away from traditional sport, looking at short sessions of alternative physical activity without the competitive aspect and without the need for changing into PE kit, this can help ensure a wider range of pupils are more comfortable in participating.

 

The introduction of such a programme is a great step towards working on your Physical Activity core theme to achieve Healthy Schools Status.  It can also be used by schools that already have Healthy Schools as part of their work towards Healthy Schools Plus.  The programme can be adapted to suit your school and your pupils.

 

If you've seen this resource and want to tell us your views or you want to discuss it with others and see how they are using it please do so in our forum.

 

For further information or for a copy of the resource please contact us