Key stage 3 & 4 Core PE

During the KS3 curriculum, students have two practical PE lessons per week. In most cases students will complete one sport per half term with a few exceptions in year 7. Students have the opportunity to repeat these sports in both years 7, 8 and 9 where they will develop their skills and knowledge of tactics in much greater depth.

Due to the nature of PE, groups will cover different sporting activities across different times of the year. Students will explore and be assessed in a range of activities in the key stage 3 and 4 national curriculum which can be found here.

To follow the national curriculum pupils will be taught a wide range of different sports and skills. Below highlights some the key sports skills that will be taught in KS3:

Volleyball - Volley, dig, serve (underarm and overarm), set, spike, block, formations.  

Table Tennis – the grip and stance, serve (and rules), forehand and backhand push, forehand and backhand topspin, lob, smash shot.

Gymnastics – Balances, partner balances, group balances, types of travel, rolls, jumps (flight) and basic vaulting.

Dance – Timing, canon, unison, repetition and motifs. 

OAA - team building, problem solving, map reading and orientation, taking and following a compass bearing

Athletics – Speed, endurance and pacing. In athletics all groups will cover track events including sprint events 100m,200m, 300/400m and middle distances; 800m and 1500m. Pupils will also cover the following field events: Javelin, shot put, high jump, long jump.

Striking and fielding (Rounders, cricket and softball) - Batting, catching, throwing, bowling/pitching, base play and fielding positions.  

At Sherburn High School our ethos is ‘Achievement for all’ and we do not believe in setting for core PE but instead try to place students in groups to best meet the needs of our students and where we think they will make the most progress in PE. This typically takes the form of a boys group, a girls group and a mixed group for each side of every year group. When grouping pupils we take into consideration a variety of factors such as pupils' past experiences in sport, their current ability in certain sports and their character/personality to help us determine what PE group we feel is the most suitable for them to make the most academic progress.  

Below is the breakdown of the PE that is offered on the curriculum at Sherburn High School:

Overview of Core Physical Education by Key Stage

The overview of the Scheme of Learning from Years 7 - 11 can be found here.

Key stage 4 - AQA GCSE PE

From year 9 onwards we offer GCSE PE as an option followed by A level in years 12 and 13 both on the AQA specification.

Some of the key topic areas which are taught at AQA GCSE PE are:

• 1. Applied anatomy and physiology
• 2. Movement analysis 
• 3. Physical training 
• 4. Use of data 
• 5. Sports psychology 
• 6. Socio-cultural influences 
• 7. Health, fitness and wellbeing 

Links to the full AQA GCSE PE specification can be found here

Link to GCSE PE pupil learning journey can be found here

Key stage 5 - AQA A level PE

Some of the key topic areas which are taught at AQA A Level PE are:

• Applied anatomy and physiology
• Skill acquisition 
• Sport and society 
• Exercise physiology 
• Biomechanical movement 
• Sport psychology 
• Sport and society and the role of technology in physical activity and sport 

Links to the full AQA A level PE specification can be found here

Link to A level pupil learning journey can be found here