Often, pupils don’t consider PE to be a writing intensive course. However, literacy skills are apparent across the curriculum and actually a very important part of PE.

 

In National 4 the written piece of work includes extended writing on outcome questions. These responses are assessed internally.

At National 5 this is the same but the questions are more demanding and externally marked by SQA.

At Higher there is a written exam component

 

Pupils taking PE should become confident with command words to use in their written assessments:

Command words for N4 + N5:
‘Identify’, ‘Describe’, ‘Explain’, ‘Evaluate’ and ‘Justify’.

Command words at Higher level:
‘Describe’, ‘Explain’, ‘Evaluate’ and ‘Analyse’.

 

Here are some excellent revision resources created by Mr McFarlane which can help organise your ideas in PE

 

 

The above skills are evident in many other subjects too.
In English, you have to identify the writer’s main points in close reading.
You would also be asked to analyse language used in close reading, Scottish Set Text and in your critical essay. You might also be asked to evaluate the effectiveness of an opening (or closing) paragraph in close reading.

Similarly, in Art, you could be asked to describe the artist’s work or evaluate their progress.
So it is important to make connections between these skills and realise that if you can apply them to one subject, you most certainly could apply to others, too!!!