PE at MBA is vital for developing students’ competence and confidence to take part in a range of physical activities that become a central part of their lives, both in and out of school. A high-quality PE curriculum enables all students to enjoy and succeed in many kinds of physical activity for lifelong learning. PE at MBA is essential to the development of motor skills and the enhancement of reflexes. Hand-eye coordination is improved, as well as good body movements, which helps in the development of a healthy body posture. Physical education teaches students the importance of physical health and well being. Vital to the success of the pupils we teach at MBA is the ability of the PE dept to instil an attitude of resilience, the ethic of hard work and to always try your best regardless of your ability, background colour or culture. There are so many physical, moral, social and cognitive benefits of why we teach PE. The ability to concentrate and focus is improved, and PE has been proven to help with anxiety, stress and depression. Teamwork, Leadership and individual confidence are also some of the key characteristics of why PE is taught at MBA. Not only does it improve behaviour but our aim at MBA is to try and halt the onslaught of child obesity, respiratory illnesses and cancer and other illnesses in later life.
The MBA curriculum is taught through the KS3 programme of PE and Well-being where pupils have two lessons a week covering the aspects of ‘core’ PE and the introduction of the RSE programme in their Well-being lesson. Lessons are driven by the spiral curriculum where we encourage the key concepts, we would like the pupils to embed into their thinking not just for the lesson but for their entire lives so that they appreciate the concept of living healthy, active lifestyles. The activities are the ‘vehicles’ in which we use to endeavour to try and deliver and develop our key concepts. The PE staff use the sporting activities as facilitators to embed our curriculum. Pupils are taught a cross range of activities to allow this curriculum to be varied and inclusive for all. In KS4 pupils then move onto a Level 2 Qualification which could either be a BTEC Level 2 qualification or a GCSE PE award.
The impact of the PE dept has been hugely influential for several reasons and for a number of areas. The curriculum inside school hours has been a strength of the Academy for a few years where often Open Days attract the highest number of prospective year 5 and 6 pupils who want to come and participate in our activities and have fun but also at the same time be competitive. Pupils who attend MBA relish PE and it can be evidenced in extremely low levels of any behaviour problems and pupils PE kit is rarely forgotten. The extra-curricula programme has been a strong element of the PE dept and the school. A rich and varied list of activities and sports are available including recreational and competitive choices. We aim to offer both strands so that our concept of life long physical activities can be accessed, experienced and then discovered both now and when growing up.
We have been very fortunate to have also produced National and International individuals over the recent years in both female and male sports. We have alumni in Olympic snowboarding, international women’s rugby 7s, many Premiership rugby players and most recently the first ever British Lion in Jack Nowell!
To accompany the above our exceptional results over the past few years have also shown that our curriculum has supported most pupils with our L2 qualifications consistently being positive and at times above the National averages. Pupils have had the opportunity to then study further qualification in the world of PE, sport and active lifestyles.