Gymnastics Support for Teachers
Gymnastics in the Curriculum may be simply described as learning fundamental movements and learning through movement; it is the A, B, Cs of physical Literacy – Agility, Balance, Co-ordination etc..
Despite the changes in the National Curriculum for 2014, there is still a place for Gymnastics within the Curriculum. It allows children to explore, improve and refine movements with skilful control and develop transferrable skills for other sports and physical activities. It gives all children, whatever their ability, the chance to experiment, practice, make decisions and perform.
I have put various articles and bits of information here. It is in NO way meant to be a substitute for an appropriately qualified gymnastics coach or teacher, but is meant to support teachers in skills they are currently competent and confident in teaching, or skills at the level they are currently working towards with a mentor.
At all times an appropriate risk assessment must be a part of the teaching process. As well as environment and apparatus, the risk assessment must include the age, ability/limitation, learning stage, and consolidation of learning and body preparation for each skill, for each child/young person.
Hazel Colton can accept no responsibility for any accidents resulting from the support offered here on this website - gymnastics is an inherently risky sport and you must make the appropriate risk assessments, and take the necessary safety precautions before using any of the information read from this site; by reading these articles you are agreeing that any information used is entirely at your own risk and with an appropriately trained teacher in attendance.
All teachers must be compliant with the afPE guidance on gymnastics in PE AND your local authority rules and guidance, as there may be additional safety decisions and restrictions in force in your area.
Despite the changes in the National Curriculum for 2014, there is still a place for Gymnastics within the Curriculum. It allows children to explore, improve and refine movements with skilful control and develop transferrable skills for other sports and physical activities. It gives all children, whatever their ability, the chance to experiment, practice, make decisions and perform.
I have put various articles and bits of information here. It is in NO way meant to be a substitute for an appropriately qualified gymnastics coach or teacher, but is meant to support teachers in skills they are currently competent and confident in teaching, or skills at the level they are currently working towards with a mentor.
At all times an appropriate risk assessment must be a part of the teaching process. As well as environment and apparatus, the risk assessment must include the age, ability/limitation, learning stage, and consolidation of learning and body preparation for each skill, for each child/young person.
Hazel Colton can accept no responsibility for any accidents resulting from the support offered here on this website - gymnastics is an inherently risky sport and you must make the appropriate risk assessments, and take the necessary safety precautions before using any of the information read from this site; by reading these articles you are agreeing that any information used is entirely at your own risk and with an appropriately trained teacher in attendance.
All teachers must be compliant with the afPE guidance on gymnastics in PE AND your local authority rules and guidance, as there may be additional safety decisions and restrictions in force in your area.
At KS 1 and 2 there is no requirement to TEACH a complex gymnastic move like a forward roll, however a child might do this as their choice of skill. This is where some technical knowledge of the move is required, not to teach but to evaluate and correct, or make safe. Without competence in the area a teacher must not teach gym skills that are beyond the curriculum. As a teacher, if a child performs a move unsafely or a move you are not comfortable with evaluating and correcting, then ask them not to do that move, but to select an alternative one; for example, a forward roll can be replaced with a log/pencil roll.
TEACHING RESOURCES
What is below? Downloadable files to support you gymnastics in schools.:
What is below? Downloadable files to support you gymnastics in schools.:
- Lesson resource shape picture cards and 'Check and Challenge' sheet
- Reception Illustration cards/posters
- Improved Resource SHAPE cards for KS 1 & 2, but larger files
- Check and Challenge Compositional suggestions
- Skill Development sheets
- Side Roll
- Teddy Bear Roll
- Forward Roll
- Worksheets for KS 1 & 2 - these will be added to as they are developed.
- Composition recording and peer evaluation sheets for pupils to use
- Outcomes Evaluation sheets - years to be added as I re-create them
- Schools Games Gymnastics Adapted Routines for Inclusive Participation
- Lesson Planning
Reception Gymnastics PE Resource
A small group of illustrations and ideas for fundamental shapes and skills for reception PE. (See the two files to the right; the document is too big to put on the website in one go.) |
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Shape Cards
Example Card
The 10 'Shape Cards' below have been updated from the ones above and look nicer. You can download, print, cut the description off and paste it to the back of the main picture before laminating. These cards make a great visual resource for your lessons. They are in twos as site restrictions on file size will not let me put them on one file, but the extra effort of downloading these is worth it. :o)
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Compositional ideas - looking at many of the aspects that can be considered in a sequence or routine composition. This sheet is ideal for teachers to use as a 'check and challenge' list for differentiation, ideas and general support in vocabulary. It's also a great tool to give pupils who are not taking part in the physical lesson on that day, to engage them in the learning by looking for any of the aspects being performed. (A bit like gymnastics bingo!)
See the pdf below to download this help sheet.
| compositional_ideas.pdf |
Basic Gymnastics Skill Development
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The Side Roll
A resource for teachers who wish to develop rolls without doing a forward or backward roll. The side roll is a great alternative, is still a more complex move, but avoids head and neck issues often experienced with forward and backward rolls. | ||
The Teddy Bear Roll
A resource for teachers who wish to develop rolls without doing a forward or backward roll. The Teddy Bear Roll is a another alternative, is still a more complex move, and possibly more difficult than a forward roll. However, children who do not like going up-side-down may prefer it to forward and backward rolls.
A resource for teachers who wish to develop rolls without doing a forward or backward roll. The Teddy Bear Roll is a another alternative, is still a more complex move, and possibly more difficult than a forward roll. However, children who do not like going up-side-down may prefer it to forward and backward rolls.
| developing_the_teddy_roll.pdf |
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The Forward Roll
A resource to develop preparatory skills for teachers who are teaching forward rolls. The preparatory skills can be used for lessons building up to forwards roll, or used in lessons to keep children engaged and active whilst the teacher supervises and supports the full skill. These preparatory skills can also support teachers without knowledge, experience or confidence in teaching full forward rolls. |
| developing_the_forward_roll.pdf |
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Worksheets for gymnastics shapes - Key Stage 1 or 2. Choose from a worksheet that asks pupils to connect the picture of the gymnastics shape with the correct word, (Key Stage 1 worksheet), or one that shows the shapes as illustrations and asks the pupils to write the correct name of the shape below each picture; correct shape names are included on the sheet to assist the pupils.
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Year 5 - How muscles work worksheet. |
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Composition Worksheets These can be used for pupils to record their routine composition, to reuse the routine the following week, to adapt for a partner or a specific apparatus set up. These sheets can also be used for any children not taking part in the physical activity that lesson, but can still be engaged in the learning by recording what they see and evaluating it.
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| y5_routine_composition.docx |
| y4_routine_composition.docx |
| peer_evaluation_sheet_for_gymnastics.pdf |
Teacher Evaluation Sheets
These evaluation sheets can be used to look at outcomes that are achieved during your gymnastics sessions. There are spaces for your pupils' names and you can indicate if they are working towards, at or beyond each outcome. I will add each year as I create them, year 1 below.
| reception_year_evaluation_sheets.docx |
| year_1_evaluation_sheets.docx |
| year_2_evaluation_sheets.docx |
| year_3_evaluation_sheets.docx |
| year_4_evaluation_sheets.docx |
| year_5_evaluation_sheets.docx |
| year_6_evaluation_sheets.docx |
| year_6-7_link_evaluation_sheets.docx |
Lesson Planning is something I do a session for on in the workshop for teachers. Ideally, it is not to instruct teachers how to plan a lesson, as they can already do this, but more to break down the content and objectives of the gymnastics unit and allocate across the number of weeks the class will do gymnastics over the year. During this session we have used a slight adaptation of R McGills '5 minute lesson planner' from 'Teacher Tools' to help with a quick plan scenario. The planner, an explanation of the planner and a very basic example can be found below. (I've now added another version which is more familiar to some.)
| 5_minute_lesson_planner.pdf |
| 5_minute_lesson_planner__explanation.pdf |
| 5_minute_lesson_planner_example.pdf |
| another_5_min_lesson_plan.docx |
