Author: Mrs Young

Better Movers and Thinkers

Morag Young and Morag Simpson, Physical Education Lead Officers for Falkirk Council Curriculum Support Team delivered a twilight course to primary staff on the  Better Movers and Thinkers Programme. This programme is an innovative, exciting and challenging movement and learning programme for Physical Education, that focuses directly on enhancing the links between moving and thinking and how these elements scaffold the development of physical performance and inter-disciplinary learning.  The practical content was delivered and developed in response to the questions and identified needs of the participants.

Feedback was extremely positive and participants are looking forward to the follow up session in February.

Examples of some feedback are shown below:

“Really interesting course with many ready to use ideas, can’t wait to try with my class!”

” Enjoyed the layering effect of tasks as it really allows for differentiation”

” ..will implement right away, very motivational”

Physical Education – Dance

Morag Young and Morag Simpson, Physical Education Lead Officers from Falkirk Council Curriculum Support Team organised a Dance twilight for primary class teachers and specialists. This course was led by Anne Murphy,  from Education Scotland. Anne demonstrated how to provide a progressive Dance programme covering the Physical Education Experience and Outcomes, focussing on the Significant Aspects of Learning in PE from Early Level through to Second Level.  She also showed how to incorporate numeracy skills, literacy skills and topic work.  This was a practical course and participants enjoyed the way in which the course was delivered in an extremely inclusive and creative manner. Course participants were able to identify that this method of teaching Dance  would ensure a positive learning experience for all and highlighted that you didn’t need to be a dancer to teach Dance!!

Examples of the very positive feedback are shown below.

“Fantastic ideas for creative dance which I could see working with my class, they would be  motivated and would get a lot of enjoyment from it”

“ How to allow pupils to take ownership and problem solve”

“I did two dance twilights last year and both were difficult to implement. This one was fab! 

“Plan to use these ideas in term 3 and link to literacy”

Physical Education in Early Years

Morag Young and Morag Simpson, PE Lead Officers with Falkirk Council Curriculum Support Team delivered a twilight session at St. Andrew’s Primary School for Early Years Practitioners.  This course demonstrated a variety of activities to develop the childrens’ ability to move well, using ideas from the Better Movers, Better Thinkers programme. Practitioners were also shown how to use PE activities to support the development of Numeracy and Literacy and shared ideas on developing the use of themed activity trails to support topic work. There was an opportunity for everyone to discuss resources and share ideas. This was a very practical course and the presenters would like to thank everyone for their enthusiatic participation.

Initial feedback from the session was extremely positive and a selection of comments are shown below:

“Clearly presented, interactive and helpful”

“Excellent workshop, lots of good ideas, enjoyed topic work”

“Really liked the ideas on how to link PE ideas with numeracy and literacy”

“Great course, fab instructions, I really enjoyed this course”

Gymnastics

Morag Young and Morag Simpson, Physical Education Lead Officers from Falkirk Council Curriculum Support Team organised a Gymnastics twilight for primary class teachers and specialists. This course was led by Anne Murphy,  from Education Scotland. Anne demonstrated how to provide a progressive Gymnastics programme focussing on the Significant Aspects of Learning in PE from Early Level through to Second Level. This was a practical course and participants were very impressed by the way in which the course was delivered in an extremely inclusive manner. Course participants were able to identify that this method of teaching Gymnastics  would ensure a positive learning experience for all.

Examples of the very positive feedback are shown below.

“Better quality lessons and learning experience for the children”

“I think my learners will have a more positive and richer learning experience”

“more valuable experience for all the children especially those who are not so confident in this area”

Better Movers and Thinkers at Wallacestone

Morag Young and Morag Simpson, Physical Education Lead Officers for Falkirk Council Curriculum Support Team delivered an inservice course to primary teachers from Wallacestone on the  Better Movers and Thinkers Programme. This programme is an innovative, exciting and challenging movement and learning programme for Physical Education, that focuses directly on enhancing the links between moving and thinking and how these elements scaffold the development of physical performance and inter-disciplinary learning.  This was a practical session and all participants rose to the challenge!  Initial feedback was extremely positive.

Kinnaird Primary Joint Fitness Sessions

Morag Young and Morag Simpson, PE Lead Officers, Falkirk Council Curriculum Support Team visited Kinnaird Primary to observe their joint fitness sessions. This involved two or three classes joining together to maximise facility use and help the delivery of their two hour Physical Education programnme. The class teachers take a team teach approach, sharing the responsibility for planning and delivering different aspects of the lesson.

The children enjoyed their learning and were active and engaged throughout. P2-3 were involved with a zumbatonic and fitness session learning about how the body feels during exercise and what is required before and after activity. P3-4 did an outdoor games session where the focus was on personal choice and working together in pairs or small groups. P5-6 were practising and developing different movement patterns in a relay style format. This provided the opportunity for learners to work on their self-determination, motivation and co-ordiantion.

We have already recommended this format to other schools who have limited access to facilities for Physical Education.  Thank you to all staff and pupils involved.

Quality Physical Education -2 hour target

Morag Young, Physical Education Lead Officer,  in Falkirk Council Education Services, Curriculum Support Team has been engaging in series of meetings supporting the delivery of quality physical education in Falkirk primary schools. These meetings with Headteachers of Denny and Graeme cluster primary schools were to explore a variety of ways in which schools were able to meet the delivery of the 2 hour target to fulfil the pupil entitlement. These discussions provide the means to share different solutions to the different contexts in relation to staffing, accomodation and resources to name but a few.