PE at key stage 2

Key stages

The National Curriculum for Physical Education is statutory in all maintained, mainstream schools up to and including key stage 4. An appropriate version of the curriculum is used in maintained special schools. Key Stage 2 (KS2) covers years 3-6, children aged 8-11 years.

In PE at KS2, children are working in the following areas of knowledge, skills and understanding across the areas of dance, games and gymnastic activities, and two activities from the following: swimming activities and water safety, athletic activities, outdoor adventurous activities):

• Acquiring and developing skills (consolidating existing skills and gaining new ones, performing with more consistent control and quality)
• Selecting and applying skills, tactics and compositional ideas (using strategies in individual, paired, group and team work; developing knowledge of the principles behind the strategies, to improve their effectiveness)
• Evaluating and improving performance (identifying what makes a performance effective and suggesting improvements based on this)
• Knowledge and understanding of fitness and health (how their bodies feel during different activities, how they warm-up and prepare for different activities, why physical activity is important for health and well-being, why wearing appropriate clothes and being hygienic is good for health and safety)

For dance activities pupils should create and perform dances from a range of movement patterns, and from different places, times and cultures. They should respond to a range of stimuli and accompaniment.

Games activities require pupils to make up modified, small-sided competitive net, striking/fielding and invasion games, use tactics for attacking/defending, work with others to organise and keep the games going.

Gymnastic activities they should create and perform fluent sequences on the floor and with apparatus, and include variations in level, speed and direction in their sequences.

Swimming and water safety requires pupils to be aware of speed distance and personal survival, to swim a distance of at least 25m, use recognised arm/leg actions on their front and back, use a range of strokes and personal survival skills.

Athletics require pupils todevelop precision, speed, power and stamina, running, jumping and throwing skills, singly and in combination, and to pace themselves for these challenges.

Outdoor and adventurous activities involves pupils following trails in unfamiliar and changing environments, using orienteering and problem solving skills, working with others to meet the challenges.

The challenges listed under KS1 still apply but there are additional challenges for children with:

• Autistim spectrum disorder focusing on Asperger’s syndrome
• Physical impairment
• Sensory impairment
• Hearing impairment
• Communication difficulties and dyslexia

You might like to look at:

• PE at P Levels 4-8
• PE in Key Stage 3