Latest articles
Information to inspire and inform PE teaching and learning
Recent articles
Latest Explore Post
Marisa McKay, PENZ Primary Advisor, has shared her latest Explore Post – If it ain’t broke, fix it! Long term planning in Physical Education
What if it isn’t really broken, BUT we can find ways of making it even better?
Or, what if it IS broken, and we just don’t know it?
Planning for PE doesn’t have to look ‘different’
Let’s talk PE planning
Physical Education is one of the seven learning areas in the New Zealand Curriculum. Therefore, the approach to planning for Physical Education should be the same as in other learning areas.
When planning for PE:
- consider the needs of your students and community
- use the curriculum (the front end and the Health and Physical Education (HPE) learning area) to guide the learning
- look at how you are going to meet those needs i.e., what contexts (games, sports, learning activities) we will use.
The better you understand and know each of these areas, the better you can plan for learning.
Critical Thinking in Physical Education for Years 7 and 8
What is critical thinking?
Critical thinking includes examining, questioning, evaluating and challenging taken-for-granted assumptions about issues and practices.
Why is this important in Physical Education?
PE while practical at heart, is an academic subject. In this, we are required to think, problem solve, use, critique and create knowledge. This can be achieved by encouraging akōnga to take time to critically reflect on their roles within PE based scenarios and practical sessions that we provide.
Using the FIFA Women's World Cup as a learning context.
With the FIFA Women’s World Cup about to kick off in New Zealand, what a fantastic opportunity to explore Sports Studies as a key area of learning in PE. This article will explain how the FIFA Women’s World Cup Tournament can provide an exciting context for learning about social, cultural, and scientific perspectives of sport. Read more
PE when it rains!
How many times have you cancelled PE
due to the weather?
Here are three key tips to help you to continue to provide rich physical educational learning, even when the weather doesn’t come to the party! Read more
The Physical Educator
Marisa McKay, PENZ Primary Advisor, has shared her latest Explore Post – WHAT MAKES A GREAT PHYSICAL EDUCATOR?
There is no shying away from the many curriculum hats a Primary or Intermediate teacher has to wear. What are the challenges and what you can do. Read more
What's the difference?
Marisa McKay, Primary Advisor looks at what the differences are between physical education, sport, play and physical activity and what they all mean? Read more
In, Through, About Movement
Quality teaching in physical education means providing opportunities for ākonga to learn through or about movement, but also in movement. Traditionally kaiako have taught physical skills during PE, but what other skills can you teach through your games? Read more
Daily Fitness
What could this look like within a quality Physical Education programme?
Many of our ākonga participate in daily fitness with their class. As kaiako we need to ensure that we offer a quality physical education programme, which could include fitness activities, as well as learning in, through, and about movement. Read more
Getting to know the curriculum area
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Effective planning in Physical Education
Great planning!
It is hard to believe, but we are coming to that part of the year where we begin to look at planning for the following year Click to download PDF article.
Strands, Aims, Objectives - What's what?
Sometimes it’s easy to get distracted by the context – the game, sport, rules or skills we are teaching, rather than focussing on the concept – our student’s needs, interests and the curriculum. Click to download PDF article.
Assessing Primary PE
What can we assess?
All too often some teachers expect Physical Education (PE) assessment to be the assessing of technically accurate physical sport-based skills, when often some of those teachers do not have the knowledge of what the technically accurate skill should look like in the first place. Click to download PDF article
Adventure in the playground
Quality Physical Education includes not only developing physical competency but teaching skills such as working as part of a team, building trust and problem solving. This post discusses how adventure-based learning activities can be a regular part of your Physical Education programme.
Download the activities mentioned in the post: Crossing Bridges | Blindfolded Obstacle Course | Team Orienteering Challenge | Lily Pad Hop
Whanaungatanga - Building relationships
Building relationships – whanaungatanga – is the key to a positive learning environment.
This post provides some ideas of how to incorporate ngā taonga tākaro (traditional Māori games) into your PE programme. Download the PDF
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Health and Physical Education's Whakataukī
A speedy look to the past to help forge the future.
Te ao Māori is steeped in oral history. The long-standing tradition of whakataukī (historically oral) have provided generations of Māori and New Zealanders with meaning, connection to their ancestors and help to make sense of the world. Definitions of the term whakataukī or proverb range and vary. This may help to paint a picture: “a speedy look to the past to help forge the future” (Alsop and Kupenga, pg 9) Click to download PDF article.
The Underlying Concepts
We are taking a deep dive into the Health and Physical Education curriculum. We will look at what makes this learning area unique and demystify each of the aspects that make up this curriculum to strengthen your understanding. This, in turn, will support you to better use the curriculum to provide rich teaching and learning experiences. Click to download PDF article.
Strategies to assess PE in Years 1-8
There are no clipboards and checklists here!
Just as we carefully construct methods for data gathering in other learning areas, we can carefully construct ways of gathering data in Physical Education.
This is the second part of the assessment papers. Click to download the PDF article
Try a new context
Break the mould and try something new!
So how do we break the mould of doing what we have always done to provide our students with a wide variety of experiences that meet their needs and facilitate learning? Click to download PDF article
Ideas, articles, and inspiration
PE equipment for quality learning
Make physical education learning visible
Use your school values to plan your PE programme
Planning for PE doesn’t need to look different
Re-establishing relationships in the post lockdown classroom through physical education
Try a new context – Break the mould and try something new!
Physical education at Alert Level 2
What does a physically educated student in lock down look like?
Critical thinking in physical education – the Olympics
Effective questioning
Engaging the disengaged
Student agency in physical education