Making an adjustment to virtual learning is never an easy task, least of all for a PE department where so much of the teaching and learning is based around the physical interaction of students and teachers. However the students of BIS and our experienced PE department have risen to the occasion once again, and is in its third week of online learning in term 3, 2021. Staff are now fully in the swing of delivering virtual lessons and watching students engage in our innovative and structured forms of skill development and physical activity. 

Methods of Delivering Virtual PE

Our PE department has based its delivery of lessons around both synchronous and asynchronous methods of instruction.  Synchronous learning where students and teachers are interacting live together on an IT platform and Asynchronous where the teacher outlines the activity and the student is off-line and endeavours to complete a task away from a screen.

 We want the students to be able to see and understand how to perform at the start of the lesson and then, if students wish, choose to get away from the screen and practice the activity undertaken independently. Using the BIS learning skills of perseverance and problem solving, students will then work towards mastering the techniques before coming back online and demonstrating what they have learned to the teachers and fellow students. It has been key to get students to buy-in to the ingenuity and variety of activities within lessons

It is also great to see that the majority of students have chosen to stay online throughout the lesson and opted to live video their performance so that teachers can analyse and improve their efforts. Through the development of the BIS learning skills of communication and critical thinking, students have then been adept at trying to beat the PE teachers' attempts, their classmates' records or even challenge their own families in some household competition. 

Focus on Core Skills

The PE department has meticulously planned the PE Lessons so that each skill and workout activity is based around the core skills in sport and physical activity. IGCSE and IBDP students will know that Performance related components of fitness include; Agility, Balance, Coordination, Power, Reaction Time and Speed of skill. These aspects of performance have been planned into the Skill part of each PE lesson. Health related components of fitness include; Muscular Strength, Muscular Endurance, Cardiovascular Endurance, Suppleness and Speed of movement. These aspects of health have been planned into the Workout part of the PE Lesson. 

Examples in the table below show how each PE teacher has taken a different form of Performance and Health related fitness and delivered it in a carousel to different year groups. Each activity is pitched at the Age-Related Expectation of that year group and then further differentiated into easy-medium-hard levels so that students can perform and be pushed appropriately.  

Moving with Purpose

Whenever our PE department deliver a virtual lesson, we always keep the BIS Aide Memoire in mind, and teach towards these pillars in every lesson. Physical Education lessons are not only physical, but they also develop the mind. We will regularly assess the knowledge and understanding, establishing students understanding of the theory behind everything they are developing.

Despite switching to virtual learning, we have been able to maintain our teaching method throughout, ensuring to deliver visual, audio and kinaesthetic modes of instruction, so that all learning styles are covered.

You too can work towards displaying the Memoire personal characteristics of:

• Respect - have a new found respect of your child’s learning by joining them in or after their lessons to complete the activities shown.
• Care - use this as an opportunity to care for your own body and improve your physical skills, muscular strength and cardiovascular endurance. 
• Integrity - each skills based activity and workout is differentiated into easy / medium / hard difficulty levels. Be true to yourself and pick the level of activity that will push you to your limits.  
• Enquiry - scroll through the PE website to pick an activity that you have never tried undertaking before and give it a go.
• Perseverance - both the skills and workouts provided by the PE teachers are difficult. It will not be attainable the first time or easily. It will require perseverance skills of trying and trying again in order to improve and master these activities.
• Reflection - consider what you have learnt and how you can use these performance related and health related skills in everyday life.

Encouraging Family Participation

One advantage of PE in Virtual School is the opportunity for a full household participation at home. We encourage families where possible to join in with the lessons or challenges, as this creates an even deeper sense of focus and engagement on the objectives of the lesson for students.

If parents feel the need to improve any performance or health related aspects of fitness in the coming weeks, then please ask your child to demonstrate what they have been performing, join in with them in their next PE lesson, or visit the PE Virtual Learning Website for further ideas.

Below are two video examples of our virtual lessons in actions

Keep safe and stay active!

Mr Husband
Director of Sport and Head of Secondary PE