Our best practice advice on primary PE planning

Lewis Plowman, Activate Operations and Community Lead, looks at the necessary topic of planning and how you can make the most of resources to make your PE lesson plans go from basic to brilliant.

Lesson planning – love it or hate it, it’s a non-negotiable for all teachers, but is understandably a burden on your already over-stretched time.

Here at Premier Education, we know you need all the help you can get when it comes to planning PE lessons, so much so, we’ve developed Pepé, an online platform to support you with all aspects of planning, delivering and measuring the effectiveness of your PE lessons.

So, in this article we’ll take a deep dive into all things planning, how its benefits outweigh the many hours spent doing it, and most importantly how the wealth of resources out there can help.

Let’s start by reminding ourselves why planning is important, and is so much more than just a tick box exercise.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

Having a clear idea of what a PE lesson will cover and its intent is crucial to effectively teaching PE and ensuring positive outcomes. A lesson plan allows you to prepare any resources or equipment you might need and make any adjustments for pupils with special requirements.

Without lesson plans, you may not feel as confident teaching and could be unprepared to answer questions or build in adaptations.

Align with the national curriculum

Lesson plans mean you can break down the PE curriculum into manageable sections, allowing you to cover what’s required in an engaging and flexible format. You know your class, so you can decide which PE activities will provide the best learning opportunities while meeting the curriculum stipulations.

Real PE lessons might not always pan out the way you planned them, but your lesson plans will give you the structure you need to follow – and give you the chance to head off any challenges before they arise.

Be clear on progression

Careful planning means you can build in progression to your PE lessons, allowing children to feel like they are accomplishing new skills and part of a learning journey. Being able to demonstrate a clear progress route is important when it comes to looking at the impact PE and PESSPA as a whole have at your school.

Support for supply teachers

If you need a supply teacher to step in for a lesson, lesson plans are invaluable. Not only will the stand-in teacher easily see what lesson they need to deliver, the pupils will also benefit from continuation of learning and minimal disruption.

Necessary for measurement

We’ve talked about progression, but planning is also key for assessment. Having clear learning outcomes means you’re able to measure pupils’ understanding and ability. Not only this, you’re able to make a judgement on whether the lessons are producing the desired outcomes – if they aren’t, then you’ll be able to make changes to get progress back on track.

Tips and advice for primary PE planning

So, we’ve talked about why planning your PE activity is important for all year groups and the benefits it brings both pupils and teachers. Now we’ll cover some best practice advice to help you produce PE lesson plans and teach with confidence.

• It’s a good idea to read through the whole Scheme of Work before you begin your planning. This gives you a good overview of the direction each unit takes, the desired learning outcomes and means you can be fully prepared in supporting all pupils.
• Include fun warm ups! Don’t underestimate the importance of getting children ready by moving their bodies and feeling positive about the lesson ahead. We want pupils feeling happy to be out of the classroom and doing some physical activity, not feeling intimidated about ‘not being sporty’. Find out more about the benefits of sport in primary school.
• A great lesson plan should have a clear purpose. Make sure pupils are clear on this purpose at the start of the lesson, so you – and they – can remain focused.

• Use the STEP framework. This is something we really advocate here at Premier Education as it brings greater inclusivity to real PE lessons. Standing for Space, Task, Equipment and People, this framework forces you to consider and adapt each of these four key elements to make physical education available to every child at your school.
• Consider cross-curricular links. What else are the kids learning about? Using influences from other subjects can help the children link their learning and increase engagement.
• PE lessons aren’t just about ‘being active’. Be clear on the key skills that the children should be working on for that particular lesson.
• Reflect. After the lesson, take some time to review how it went. Did the pupils understand the purpose and complete the activities with this in mind? By evaluating the lesson you can make any adjustments needed for the future.
• Read our article on smarter PE planning for even more tips.

Use the resources that are available to you

Yes, the good news is that there are tonnes of PE resources out there to support you in planning and delivering high quality PE lessons at your primary school. Lets take a look at the resources available and how they can save you valuable time.

Scheme of Work and lesson plans: There are a wealth of providers out there who offer comprehensive PE schemes of work and lesson plans that are easy-to-follow and have clear progression built in. Helpfully, many offer videos as well as downloads making them very user-friendly.

PE tracker tool: If you struggle with assessment then having access to a PE tracker tool would be invaluable to you. This easily allows you to track pupil progress and the impact PE is having on classes.

CPD packages: Teaching in itself should be a process of learning, so having access to CPD resources to upskill teachers in PE means your lessons will always be fresh, focused and successful.

Extracurricular and Sport Premium guidance: We may have strayed slightly from curricular PE with this point but PE and PESSPA delivery as a whole are so intertwined, we can’t fail to talk about all of the physical activity that takes place at your school.

PE teaching is just one element of PESSPA delivery, and thanks to the Sport Premium funding, you have additional budget to deliver sport based activities at your school. It can be a minefield knowing how you can spend this money and how to report it. That’s why we offer free advice on how to spend your Sport Premium, so feel free to give us a call!

With all of the above points, it’s important to do your research and find a complete package that is right for your school. Consider which areas you need the most support in and why not spend some time requesting trials or demonstrations before you commit?

FAQs

Are lesson plans important for Ofsted inspections?

While Ofsted don’t request to see individual lesson plans, they are looking for ‘quality of education’ and ‘overall effectiveness’ which teaching PE using PE lesson plans absolutely ensures.

Where can I find PE planning ideas?

There’s a wealth of PE resources available to suit every primary school. Get some recommendations from fellow PE teachers and check out Pepé.

How can I make assessment in PE lessons easier?

Assessment and measurement in PE has always been viewed as tricky due to the very nature of the class. However, a PE tracker tool or measurement platform such as Pepé does all the hard work for you, providing invaluable insights and data on participation, progress and more.

I love teaching PE but we always seem to lack resources!

Having a good bank of basic equipment is so important to deliver high quality PE. Most items aren’t costly, so it’s worth speaking to your school finance manager about making some small investments. Our article on essential sports equipment is a great place to start.

Bring PE to life at your school

Physical education is a vital part of the curriculum, bringing countless benefits to all year groups. Teaching it should be as fun for you as it is for the children, so make life a bit easier by finding a PE resource provider that can supply sequential, inspiring lesson plans and help with the all-important measurement.

Speak to us about Pepé and we’d be happy to give you a demonstration to talk you through its full suite of benefits.