Physical Education

Physical Education at Breckenbrough is a supportive and fun outlet for students to express themselves. Although the students are actively encouraged to participate in physical activity, it is recognised that there are some students who have no interest in physical activity or have experienced trauma in mainstream PE lessons. This is fully supported by a nurturing atmosphere where competition takes a back seat. The emphasis is placed more on the social and emotional benefits that PE has to offer. Many students come to Breckenbrough disliking PE due to their past experiences but gradually warm up to the idea of PE when they witness what the lessons entail and the lack of pressure placed on sporting excellence. This does not mean that competition is not encouraged in a positive way. Respect is key and is maintained throughout the lessons with pupils encouraged to be gracious in victory just as much as in defeat.

Games lessons for the students are structured to maximise engagement and enjoyment whilst providing a physically challenging way to express themselves. Lessons take part in either the sports hall, multi-sports pitch or the extensive playing fields behind the school. The opportunities in the Lower School’s games lessons include; football, basketball, gymnastics, badminton, handball, athletics, and rugby among many more coordination skills. Year groups are often taught as whole classes instead of splitting them which allows barriers to be broken down and animosity overcome. Throughout the lessons pupils are encouraged to focus on improving attributes with skill progression occurring more organically. They work on key areas such as coaching, mindset, decision making, performance, leadership, character and fitness. Despite the classes sizes team sports are always popular during lessons and they are played with great enthusiasm during breaks, lunch and many evenings of the school week.

The upper school has a number of qualifications that can be gained through PE at Breckenbrough. They are offered as a range of vocational as well as academically driven courses from Entry Level PE to Cambridge Nationals in Sport Science. The Cambridge Nationals offer a new vocationally driven qualification centred on a career within the sporting industry. Areas such as sports technology and sport psychology are explored, which alongside injury management and fitness training, provide a well-rounded syllabus. GCSE PE is also offered for those students wanting to explore the more ‘traditional’ PE syllabus. Throughout all of this, the students are encouraged to take part in First Aid training offered alongside the courses that not only assist in the learning of the course, but also offer a fantastic qualification when applying for future occupations, especially if it is in the sporting industry.

Sport Options

Links to the courses available can be found below.

Cambridge Nationals in Sport Science/Studies

OCR Cambridge Nationals Sport Science qualification information including specification, exam materials, teaching resources, learning resources:

OCR GCSE PE