Welcome to the PE
Department
The PE Department
The PE department is part of the Physical and Health Education Faculty. It will
consist of 9 full time teachers: four teachers who specialise in Girls PE, five
teachers who specialise in Boys PE. Jo Tully is Director of Learning for the
faculty, Kate Hughes is Curriculum Leader of Girls PE and Dan Kesterton is
Curriculum Leader of Boys PE. The school is part of a Sports College
Network and is looking to fill the position of the existing School Sports
Coordinator and teacher of girls PE who has gained a promotion. OFSTED
(2002) described the PE department as being a ‘strength of the school’. The
department is also a ‘Lead Department’ within Birmingham LEA.
CURRICULUM
In KS3, pupils are taught a wide range of games as well as athletics, dance
and gymnastics activities. Outdoor education has been introduced from
September 2004 and linked to the delivery of Citizenship. The use of ICT is
now mapped onto the curriculum. All classes have 5 hours per fortnight and
each lesson is 60 minutes in duration. Most activities are taught in 4 week
blocks of work to aid progression and depth of learning.
In KS4 students currently receive 60 minutes of core PE a week. Students
are presented with an options package at the start of Year 10 and Year 11
and they then choose their activities termly based on the PE facility they are
allocated. They must select a minimum of 2 different activities, with at least
one being a team game and one an individual sport. The options block
includes the Sports Leaders Award Level One which is a one year course.
GCSE PE
This is an established and popular option. At present there are 53 students
taking the course in Year 10 and 44 students in Year 11, all following the OCR
specification. This is delivered in 5 x 60 minute lessons per fortnight, which
are split between theory and practical work. Students have the option, at the
end of the course, to be entered for either GCSE PE or GCSE PE: Games.
Activities are chosen so as to build on the KS3 and 4 core activities and each
group has a male and female member of staff teaching on practical lessons.
Students also have the opportunity to go on a five-day residential coursework
assessment trip to Ogwen Cottage in Wales. During this trip students are
assessed in one or two of the following activities: Orienteering, Mountain
Walking, Climbing or Canoeing. We also have a very successful GCSE
Dance course running in year 10 and year 11, which is in its sixth year of
teaching.
BTEC SPORT
The department delivers BTEC First Diploma Sport in year 10 and 11 which
has also been very successful with 100% pass rate since it began in 2007.
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This will change to the BTEC certificate in September. We may also be
looking to deliver part of the Diploma in Sport and Leisure in the future.
AS/A2 PE
The AS/A2 Physical Education course follows the OCR specification. The
course is delivered in 4 x 60 minute lessons per week. The course contains
both practical and theory elements as well as a synoptic assessment. The
current Year 12 group contains 12 students, with another 9 in year 13.
EXTRA-CURRICULAR PE
The department has a strong commitment to extra-curricular PE. The current
provision includes rugby, football, basketball, netball, hockey, cricket,
rounders, tennis, athletics, trampolining and dance. The school enters all
local inter-school competitions as well as national competitions and we have a
long tradition of success. A number of our students have gone on to
represent the district, county and national teams. A number of coaches visit
the school to extend curriculum provision and provide specific expertise,
enriching the student’s experience. Visiting artists include choreographers
and dance companies.
FACILITIES
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2 Gymnasia
6 Tennis/Netball courts
1 hall marked for badminton, which is also used for school activities
1 hall for table tennis which is also used for drama and music lessons
200m grass athletics track
2 grassed areas
Off site football pitches for inter-school fixtures
BRAND NEW fitness suite being built in May 2009!
PERSONAL PROFILE
The PE department are looking for a colleague who meets some or all of the
following requirements:
 A good honours degree
 Work well independently and as part of a team
 Good communication and organisation skills
 A knowledge of KS1-2 PE.
 The ability to teach across the activity areas
 A strong commitment to extra-curricular activities
 A commitment to deliver a full range of relevant examination options
 An interest in delivering leadership courses to students
 Lots of enthusiasm and motivating skills
Jo Tully
Director of Learning Physical and Health Education Faculty
May 2009
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