Agility – Agility is the ability to change the direction of the body in an efficient and effective manner.

[Link]/[Link]

Pupils can be encouraged to develop their agility through travelling in large and small spaces in
gymnastics and dance and in taking part in team games, fitness and other activities involving directional
changes.

Analyse – To examine in detail in order to discover meaning and/or essential features; to break down
into components. [Link] to examine the nature or structure
of something, especially by separating it into its parts, in order to understand or explain it.
[Link]/definition/english/analyse

Pupils should be able to use a variety of methods to analyse their own and others’ performances in a
range of different activities.

Applying – To put into action. [Link]/applying

Pupils should be given opportunities to practise and apply their learning in different activities. This
provides an opportunity to revisit previous as well as further develop learning. Links between activities
should also be made to highlight and enable pupils’ transference of skills.

Balance – The ability to maintain equilibrium when stationary or moving (i.e. not to fall over) through the
coordinated actions of our sensory functions (eyes, ears and the proprioceptive organs in our joints).

Static Balance – The ability to retain the centre of mass above the base of support in a stationary
position.

Dynamic Balance – The ability to maintain balance with body movement.

[Link]/[Link]

Pupils should be able to balance on two feet before attempting to balance on one foot, on other parts of
the body or inverted.
Broad Range of Opportunities – Not limited or narrow; of extensive range or scope: a broad range of
interests; of broad appeal.

Pupils should be offered a variety of age appropriate differentiated physical activities to develop and
extend their agility, balance, coordination, fitness and motor skills, and to accommodate their different
strengths, interests and needs.

Challenge – Something that by its nature or character requires special effort, is demanding.
[Link]

Intellectual challenge – Where the demand relates to thinking in an intelligent way and understanding,
especially difficult or complicated concepts or ideas.

Intellectual challenge is provided by outdoor education within the NC. This should be viewed in the
context of setting pupils mental challenges in which they have to overcome and solve problems.

Physical challenge – Where the demand relates to physical performance, for example, performing a
difficult or complex skill or task. A physical challenge might involve endurance-related tasks.

Competent – Having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge and experience.

[Link]

Within physical education, terms such as fluent, controlled, aesthetically pleasing or with very few errors
could be used to describe what a competent performance looks like.

Competence – The ability to do something successfully or efficiently.

Pupils should develop competence in the fundamental movement skills to enable them to develop
competence across the range of activities within the physical education curriculum.
Competitive sport – Competition refers to a contest for some prize, honour or advantage.
[Link] competitive sport is usually played or participated
in between two or more persons or teams striving for the common goal of winning.

Although pupils at KS1 and KS2 enjoy a competitive element in activities, the extent and type of
competition needs to be age appropriate. KS1 pupils can take part in activities where they compete
against their personal bests, which may be rewarded with positive feedback and praise. Pupils can also
take part in simple games in groups of 2-4, where attitude and motivation as well as performance are
acknowledged.

Pupils at KS2, 3 and 4 can also compete against their personal bests. KS2 and 3 pupils should also take
part in differentiated partner and small group or modified games and activities. KS 2 pupils may begin to
take part in some of the mini versions of sports i.e. Quick Cricket, Red tennis etc, while at KS3 and 4,
pupils should progress towards taking part and competing in full games and regulation sports. Pupils
should also be encouraged to use competition as a way of peer and self assessment.

Complex – So complicated or intricate as to be hard to understand or deal with;

[Link] or in the physical education context, to be hard to
perform.

Tactics, strategies or techniques and skills might be complex and KS 4 pupils should be encouraged to
develop these to a more advanced level across a variety of physical activities.

Confident – To be certain about something or feeling sure of oneself and one’s abilities.
[Link]

To promote confidence pupils should be appropriately challenged and praised for working to the best of
their ability and making progress. In turn, this should motivate and encourage them to have a go and try
new things. It is also important pupils feel confident in their teacher’s knowledge and ability to support
their learning.

Control – To exercise restraint or direction over; dominate; command.

[Link]
Pupils from a young age should be encouraged to focus on controlling their movements. When travelling
in a space pupils’ attention should be drawn to spatial awareness and moving with control. When
performing a sequence or balance, good control through sound body tension should be an expectation
and when stopping, pupils should be taught to hold still.

Cooperative physical activities – Cooperation is a behaviour demonstrated by individuals working

together toward shared goals.

In many activities in physical education, pupils must learn to work cooperatively as well as have a desire
to defeat opponents. Generally, co-operation requires a greater degree of maturation and intellectual
development than competition.

Cooperative physical activities can involve many different types of group interaction. Co-operative
Games, for example, enable pupils to work together in a caring and co-operative way as a social unit, to
be inclusive, and to develop coordination, motor and problem solving skills.

Co-ordination – The ability to control the movement of the body in co-operation with the body’s sensory
functions, e.g. catching a ball (ball, hand and eye co-ordination). [Link]

Core movement – The competency in motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety
of physical activities. [Link]

There are a number of different types of skills:

Cognitive – or intellectual skills that require thought processes

Perceptual – involving interpretation of presented information

Motor – involving movement and muscle control

Perceptual motor – involving the thought, interpretation and movement skills

[Link]/[Link]

Pupils will be at different levels in their development of core movement skills. Opportunities to develop
and assess pupils’ core movement skills should be the foundation to physical education.
Demanding – Calling for intensive effort or attention
[Link] in the physical education context, intensive
physical effort (i.e. physically demanding).

Effectiveness – Adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result.

[Link]

Excel – Deriving from the word excellent, to do very well or be exceptionally good at or proficient in an
activity. [Link]

At KS1 and KS2, pupils should work on developing their fundamental movement skills. Pupils who are
excelling would perform movement with good balance, coordination and control. Pupils can also excel in
their knowledge and understanding of concepts, terms or different activities, or in their confidence,
attitude and motivation towards physical activity.

At the end of KS1 pupils should be expected to:

Develop control and coordination of their physical movements

Recognise, observe and apply rules in competitive and cooperative games and other physical activities
and know why they are important

Devise, perform and repeat compositions and sequences

Use and apply simple tactics and strategies

Improve performance by observation and use set criteria for evaluation

Understand the benefits of regular exercise and how their bodies feel when they exercise.

Pupils who excel at KS1 should be able to:

Control and coordinate their bodies and movements with increasing skill and confidence

Follow and apply more complex rules in a range of games

Develop physical skills and techniques by observation, evaluation and refinement; and use repetition and
practice to reach higher standards

Use tactics, strategies and compositional ideas to achieve set objectives and improve performance

Recognise ways in which stamina and flexibility can be improved through daily physical activity

Explore a range of actions, dynamics, space and relationships, and know how to create dance motifs and
compose simple dances.
Pupils who excel at KS2 would be able to:

Develop whole body control and fine manipulation skills

Know and understand what needs to be achieved, critically evaluating how well it has been achieved and
finding ways to improve

Understand that physical activity contributes to the healthy functioning of the body and mind and is an
essential component of a healthy lifestyle

Refine and adapt skills into techniques

Make decisions about what to do to improve their performance and the performance of others

Expert

Noun – A person who has special skill or knowledge; a person who is a specialist authority in some
particular field.

Adjective – Possessing specialist skill or knowledge; skillful or skilled.

[Link]

Fairness and respect – Fairness and respect within physical education can be demonstrated and
developed as follows, by:

Fairness

Taking turns

Sharing equipment and apparatus

Following rules and making up rules for games

Recognising and accommodating the different abilities of their peers

Sharing ideas and knowledge

Accepting anyone can take part regardless of their race, religion, gender or sex

Respect

Caring for equipment and apparatus

Keeping themselves and others safe i.e. when travelling in a space, moving equipment

Celebrating others’ successes, including of opponents

Listening to teachers’ instructions

Listening and responding to others’ ideas

Understanding everyone has a right to take part regardless of ability

Recognising others’ contributions

Fitness – There are two main types of fitness, health-related and skill-related. In the NCPE, the term is
used to refer to health-related fitness. This comprises five components (cardiovascular endurance,
muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition).

Personal fitness – Personal fitness is the composite level of these five components that an individual
possesses at any point in time.

At KS4 pupils should know and understand their own levels of personal fitness, and how and through
which activities they can develop their fitness.

Flexibility – Flexibility, mobility and suppleness all refer to the range of limb movement around joints.
[Link]/[Link]

In activities such as gymnastics and athletics pupils can draw on and develop their flexibility using the full
range of movement in controlled, focused as well as in dynamic ways. Where possible, skills and
positions demanding flexibility are best practised and refined statically (i.e. still) first, before being
performed dynamically (i.e. moving).

Movement patterns in dance – Movement composed of the elements of dance in a regular arrangement,
configuration or design; a dance pattern.

Physically demanding activities – Physical activities that challenge an individual to move on from their
own baseline level of performance to the next step.

For some pupils this could be holding a simple balance and for others it may be improving their stamina,
co-ordination, speed or agility.

Strength – The ability of a muscle or muscle group to overcome a resistance.

[Link]/browse/strength
At KS1 and KS2, pupils can develop strength through taking their own body weight, balancing, climbing,
hanging, swinging, jumping, skipping, running, or swimming etc.

At KS3 and KS4, pupils can develop strength through the above plus through more formal sports as well
as fitness-related activities such as circuits, aerobics or resistance training using free or fixed weights.
The use of heavy weights however, should be avoided.

Sustained – To keep up or keep going; as an action or process; in the physical education context to keep
up/maintain the behaviour of physical activity. [Link]

Ofsted (2013) suggests ‘Teachers should improve pupils’ fitness by keeping them physically active
throughout all lessons and engaging them in regular, high intensity vigorous activity for sustained periods
of time.’ It should be noted though that, despite high intensity, vigorous activity having benefits, it may
not be appropriate for all pupils and sustained physical activity of any intensity is still beneficial.

Tactic – The particular method used or selected to achieve something.

[Link]

Technique – A technique is the way of performing a skill.

Players select different techniques for performing skills on the basis of:

Their personal preference – which technique suits their level of skill or confidence

The effectiveness of the technique – which technique gives them the most success

The situation – which technique is best at a given time and place, and is within the rules.

Strategy – The intended or chosen plan to achieve a particular purpose;

[Link] for example, in the physical education context, the
plan to overcome an opponent in a game or to solve a problem in outdoor education.