13 May 2020
It has been challenging times for us all moving to a remote curriculum but the PE department has developed a new curriculum that not only meets the needs of staying active but also can be adapted to each student’s individual home environment.
There are ‘live’ PE lessons for many that focus on the 5 pillars of the Abingdon Movement Skill curriculum – Squat, Pull, Pillar, Push and Hinge through a range of body weight exercises. To go beyond these ‘circuits’ all boys have chosen one ‘focus sport’ from athletics, cricket, hockey, football, rackets, rowing, rugby and swimming. Each week for their chosen focus sport boys receive a sport specific task sheet to work through in their two core sport lessons. We expect them to choose the tasks appropriate to their ability and environment, completing as many as they can, as well as to touch base with their respective head of sport during their core sport lesson on Zoom if required. Many boys have already had great 1-2-1s with Mr Davies, Head of Athletic Development, to fine tune their ‘at home’ training programmes.
This does not mean that the boys only follow one sports programme as they are actively encouraged to look at participating in any activity from the focus sports. To help this all boys get a weekly challenge sheet that not only has a work out of the week but a range of technical and tactical activities from each of the focus sports as well as mental and educational topics for the boys to explore.
Boys are also encouraged to be active outside of their timetabled lesson times through three main challenges;
- Firstly the weekly Zoom Circuit City on a Wednesday afternoon where a live circuit is hosted by all members of the PE department.
- Secondly we have launched the ‘Run The World’ challenge asking all boys, parents, staff and OAs to keep track of all their on foot exercise through the Strava app and linking this to the Abingdon School Cross-Country Club so that their efforts feed into our overall distance.
- Thirdly there is a weekly sports video competition where boys are encouraged to email Mr Bignell with a short video of their sporting efforts throughout the week. Each week a winner from each group is chosen and a prize is sent in the post.
It is clear that staying active, fit and having some fun away from screens is at the heart of the new PE & Sport curriculum, but the Abingdon sporting philosophy of developing a diverse range of sporting interactions remains at the heart of everything we do.
