Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency

The key objective of this work at South Petherwin Primary School in the Cornwall Partnership was to improve pupils’ gymnastic skills by training their teachers.

What did we do?

In an audit of staff confidence in teaching PE, gymnastics was identified as an area that needed development.

We employed a TOPs gymnastics trainer to work with all four classes over a period of six weeks. She devised an outline programme and taught lesson one, observed by the class teacher. The class teacher then planned and taught sessions two, three, five and six, with the trainer returning to teach session four. The trainer also provided after-school INSET on planning gymnastics, warm-up activities and skills development.

What difference did we make?

As a result of the training, teachers became much more confident and competent when planning and teaching gymnastics. They took a great deal of pride in working with the pupils to ensure that the trainer was able to see a significant improvement in their skills and performance by the time she returned for the fourth session. They also made the most of the opportunity to observe and learn from a qualified and experienced expert.

The pupils made significant progress in gymnastic activities over the six weeks. Progress tests at the end of the year showed marked improvements in flexibility.

The status of PE in general – and gymnastics in particular – increased in the pupils' eyes because they were taught by an expert and knew that their teachers felt the work was important.

How did we collect information?

We collected information to show the success of the gymnastics training by:

• monitoring staff feedback and evaluations
• giving the pupils questionnaires (for self-assessment of progress)
• filming the pupils working (this is now used as training material for primary teachers in Cornwall)
• looking at the results of skills progress tests.