Inclusive Sports Festival

PGCE and School Direct Physical Education and Dance students took part in a whole day of inclusive sport and physical activity with pupils from schools in East Sussex.

The emphasis of the day was on equity and inclusion within the secondary school physical education and dance curriculum. The day comprised of activities such as Boccia, sit-down volleyball, parachute games, new-age kurling and goalball as well as Dance activities.

The day was a challenging experience as trainee had to plan for pupils with a range of complex learning needs. It also helped trainee teachers to adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils and gain experience of knowing when and how to differentiate appropriately, using approaches which enable pupils to be taught effectively, gaining a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn and how best to overcome these.

In addition, trainees were able to demonstrate an awareness of the physical, social and intellectual development of children, and know how to adapt teaching to support pupils’ education at different stages of development as well as having a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs; and those with disabilities; and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.

Route leader, Dr Gary Stidder, said: “Experiences such as these give trainee teachers of physical education and dance a great deal of confidence and enable them to provide the foundations for inclusive practice in PE and Dance, whilst enabling trainee teachers to plan and adapt activities according to different learning needs.”