physical education

Physical Education

Head of Department: R L Jones

At Arnold Physical Education and sport are taught in an ever changing continuum: PE for all, and sport for excellence. On one hand we engender positive approaches to participation and offer opportunities for all, encouraging pupils to develop recreational interests that they can take into adult life, whilst we also seek excellence in the many sports available to the pupils. The formal timetable includes periods of PE and swimming as well as a games afternoon.

In addition to recognising the role of sport in providing opportunities for physical exercise, we aim to introduce all pupils to a wide range of activities. The following activities are taught at some stage during PE and Games lessons: aerobics, athletics, badminton, basketball, climbing, cricket (boys and girls), cross-country, dance, fencing, golf, gymnastics, health-related fitness, hockey, netball, rounders, rugby, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, trampolining and volleyball.

Both GCSE and A Level PE are available for those pupils that wish to pursue the subject to a higher level. A strong and varied fixture list provides for several teams in each group, with fixtures throughout the year. In the Autumn and Spring Terms we offer rugby, hockey, netball, cross-country, golf, swimming and fencing; in the Summer Term cricket, tennis, athletics and golf are available. Tours also take place regularly and in recent years teams have visited Holland, France, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Barbados, Grenada, Singapore and Australia.

Facilities include the Procter Sports Hall, part of a £1 million complex, offering first-class indoor facilities for activities such as gymnastics, basketball, badminton, fencing, cricket and indoor hockey. The Sports Hall also houses a very large climbing wall, offering pupils a unique opportunity to develop skills associated with outdoor pursuits, CCF and the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

The Monllor Fitness Suite, a state of the art health and fitness room, offers pupils the opportunity to develop personal fitness both during lessons and for the benefit of personal programmes for individual activities. Outdoor facilities include a recently resurfaced all-weather astro-turf pitch primarily used for hockey and tennis, plus two extensive playing fields adjacent to the School providing four rugby pitches, one soccer pitch and a grass hockey pitch. During the Summer term these fields provide excellent facilities for athletics (including a throwing cage), rounders and three cricket squares.

The nearby Palatine Pool is utilised for swimming lessons as well as training for the Swimming team. GCSE and A Level lessons are conducted in the department's dedicated classroom and pupils have access to an excellent resource library that includes multi-media software.