The PE Faculty

Mrs L. Spence (Head of Physical Education)
Mr R. Upwood (2nd in Faculty/ Head of Boys PE)
Mrs A. Cripps (Teacher of Girls PE/ Head of Year 10)
Mrs H. Wright (Teacher of Girls PE)
Mr S. Lowe (Teacher of Boys PE/ Deputy Headteacher)
Mr W. Grantstrong>(Teacher of Boys PE)
Mr C. North (Teacher of Boys PE)
Mr M. Davis (School Sports Coordinator- Teacher of PE)


PE at Kingsdown School
At Kingsdown School we encourage participation through enjoyable well planned lessons. We are proud to offer students an opportunity to experience learning through physical exercise.

The PE faculty are committed to developing each and every student, so all can feel valued and gain a sense of achievement. We are very successful in terms of examination results, the performances of our school teams and the progress made by each student within every lesson.

The Physical Education Faculty strives to develop sporting and social skills through an ever widening variety of activities. Students are guided to follow healthy lifestyles and encouraged to participate in physical activity throughout life.



Fundamental to our success are:

• Enjoyment.
• Raising Self-Confidence.
• Maximising Participation.
• Developing Leadership.
• Developing Excellence.

PE Facilities
Kingsdown students are now able to make full use of the recently refurbished sports facilities at the former Premier Club and now have access to a fantastic sports hall and dance studio as well as extra teaching facilities.

This is an exciting times for sports at Kingsdown with a new Astro Turf sports facility also due shortly.

On site we are fortunate to have 4 tennis/netball courts, one outdoor basketball court, a field that can accommodate a full size athletics track in the summer, 2 rugby pitches, 2 hockey pitches and 2 football pitches in the winter, an artificial cricket strip and a 3 bay cricket frame. We also have two indoor gymnasiums.

PE Kit
PE Kit is available to purchase at Trutext in the Brunel Centre, Swindon or via www.yourschooluniform.com.

Click on the image below to open a PDF file with the school PE Kit.



KS3 Physical Education
All KS3 students at Kingsdown School attend timetabled PE for 4 x 1hour lessons per fortnight. Groups are mixed ability in Year 7 and set on ability and dynamics in Years 8 and 9. All students complete a block of between 6-8 lessons on each sport or activity before moving on to the next. Students cover over 12 sports or activities per school year.

The greater flexibility of the new National Curriculum has allowed us to be innovative in our approach to curriculum development.

KS4 Physical Education
At KS4 students are given the opportunity to opt for their preferred areas of study from outwitting an opponent (games), accurate application (gymnastics and trampolining), exploring and communicating (dance), effective safe exercise (circuit and weight training, yoga), and performing at maximal levels (athletics and cross country). Each student has one 1 hour lesson per week.

GCSE PE
This course is open to all students during Years 10 and 11 and is extremely popular. The two year course is made up of 60% practical assessment and 40% theory assessment. All students will participate in a wide range of practical activities inside school and can also be assessed in sports outside of school.

The course offers students the opportunity to explore a multi-disciplinary approach to sport and physical education. Students will study a variety of theoretical aspects which when combined with their practical performance as either a performer, coach or official will allow them to analyse and improve their own skills or those of others.

GCSE PE Bitesize
AQA GCSE PE Course

New BTEC Sport Course at Kingsdown for 2011-13
As more of a vocational course than GCSE PE, the BTEC Certificate in Sport course prepares those wishing to follow a career in the sports sector or continuing into higher education.

The course is practical in nature, although students personal performance is not assessed and does not contribute to their overall grade.

The two year course is assessed through coursework with students creating a portfolio of evidence throughout the course for all units. In BTEC Firsts all units are internally assessed.

All assessment for BTEC First qualifications is criterion referenced, based on the achievement of all the specified learning outcomes. Each unit within the qualification has specified assessment and grading criteria which are to be used for grading purposes.

Assessment in PE
All students are assessed in line with the new attainment targets for PE and students work towards individually tailored targets throughout the key stage.

Students are assessed in their progress in applying the key processes: Developing skills, Making and applying decisions, Developing physical and mental capacity,

Evaluating and improving & Making informed choices about healthy active lifestyles.

Extra Curricular Sport
The PE Faculty pride themselves on the range of exciting extra-curricular opportunities for all students. Our teams have access to a fantastic competition structure within Swindon encouraging both elite performance and sport for all.

The extra-curricular timetable is updated each term and also includes clubs with a focus purely on participation and not just competition. External instructors/coaches are used regularly to enhance this provision. The challenge to all students is to ensure they are doing at least 5 hours of structured sport, whether in lessons or outside of school, every week.



Recent successes include :

• Year 8 Boys Football- Swindon Schools Champions 2011
• Year 8 Boys Football- last 16 of the Schools National football competition 2011
• Year 7 Girls Netball- Swindon Schools Finalists 2011
• Year 7 Girls Football- National Futsal Finalists 2011
• Year 11 Girls Badminton- Regional Finalists 2010
• Year 7 Boys Football- Swindon Schools Champions 2010
• Year 7 Girls Football- Swindon Schools Finalists 2010
• Year 10 Boys Basketball- Finalists 2010
• Year 9 Girls Netball- Wiltshire finalists 2009

School-Club links
The PE faculty has developed strong links with a number of local Swindon sports clubs. These links include sharing of coaching and support for our students in joining the clubs.

Clubs include :

• Raychem Netball Club
• Wiltshire Hockey Club
• Wootton Bassett Hockey Club
• Swindon Rugby Football Club

Students should see a member of PE staff for more details on any of these clubs. We also highly recommend that students also view the PE faculties PE corridor display boards for more information on clubs in Swindon.

Links
BBC Sport
London 2012
Swindon School Sport Partnership