Primary School PE in Lockdown 3

The Prime Minister announced Lockdown 3 at just after 8 pm on Monday night. At 0551 on Tuesday morning I had an email from Miss Hawkins, the Head Teacher at Willand Primary School, asking me if I would produce some more PE videos.

‘Of course,’ I replied. So, here we are again. Another series of videos designed for parents and pupils who are homeschooling for 7 weeks at least. (Our previous collaboration won an award from the Youth Sports Trust).

The Framework

We upload three 10-12 minute videos a week in this sequence.

• Video 1: Movement
• Video 2: Physical Fitness
• Video 3: Skills and drills.

Everything is done with the equipment -poor parent and child in mind. We sometimes show how to make your own equipment in a Blue Peter style.

The content is fresh and varied and we set up a structure within each class and then show some ideas of ‘freestyling’ where children can build on the ideas we give and develop their own routines.

We are encouraging creativity, exploration and fun rather than just dish out sets/reps and endless minutes of planking.

What is different in 2021.

We have introduced some changes to the format based on what we learned after the last series of lessons.

• 1: Trying to link and progress between different content. Now we have a library of over 50 videos we can link back to previous lessons and reference them.
• 2: Adding titles, texts and links within the videos. Better editing software has allowed me to do this. I have paid for ProDirector plus and edit on my phone.
• 3: Better Audio-Visual equipment. Everything has been upgraded since March 2020. My Motorola phone has much better storage as well as cameras. A new tripod and remote microphone have also been essential.
• 4: Adding quizzes, fun facts and top tips to break up the lesson and help retain the children’s attention.

We have still not gone ‘viral’ and many pupils don’t watch them, but those that do have been commenting in class. When I see people on our once a day allocated walk outside, they often tell me how they are using the videos.

These videos are imperfect but they are up and running and accessible for the pupils.

If anyone wants the pdf of the lesson outline, please email me.

Stay safe. Stay healthy.