Physical Education and school sport play a major part in life at St John’s Catholic Comprehensive School. Students in KS3 will experience a broad and balanced Physical Education curriculum. This emphasises skill development and tactical approaches to a variety of sports as well as developing knowledge and understanding of health & fitness. Students receive three lessons of high quality PE each week, taught in single gender groups and set according to their level of ability.

Year 7

Term 1- Rugby, Netball, Climbing & Table Tennis 

Term 2- Football, Hockey, X-Country, Basketball & Benchball 

Term 3- Table Tennis, X-Country, Trampolining, Climbing, Rugby, Football & Netball 

Term 4- Climbing, Trampolining, Table Tennis, X-Country, Cricket & Rounders 

Term 5- Athletics, Softball & Short Tennis 

Term 6- Cricket, Rounders, Athletics & Rock Climbing

Assessment

Students' practical performances are formatively assessed on a lesson by lesson basis with clear guidance given on how to make progress for each activity they study. Formal assessment lessons are then conducted during the last week of each half term, where students are graded on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest assessment score) using the AQA GCSE PE criteria. An average yearly score across all activity areas is then calculated to give students a ‘progress level’ in relation to their end of KS4 target grade. These grades will also be used to assess student’s suitability for the Btec First Award in Sport and GCSE PE qualifications in KS4.

Year 8 

Term 1- Rugby, Netball, Rock Climbing & Trampolining. 

Term 2- Football, Hockey, Benchball & Dodgeball. 

Term 3- Table Tennis, Trampolining, Rock Climbing, Rugby, Football & Netball. 

Term 4- Rock Climbing, Trampolining, Table Tennis, Cricket, Football & Rounders. 

Term 5- Athletics, Softball & Short Tennis. 

Term 6- Cricket, Athletics & Rounders.

Assessment

Students' practical performances are formatively assessed on a lesson by lesson basis with clear guidance given on how to make progress for each activity they study. Formal assessment lessons are then conducted during the last week of each half term, where students are graded on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest assessment score) using the AQA GCSE PE criteria. An average yearly score across all activity areas is then calculated to give students a ‘progress level’ in relation to their end of KS4 target grade. These grades will also be used to assess student’s suitability for the Btec First Award in Sport and GCSE PE KS4 qualifications.

What will I gain from studying PE? 

From studying KS3 PE students will be given the opportunity to experience a breadth of traditional and alternative sports including Rugby, Netball, Rock Climbing, Trampolining, Football, Hockey, Benchball, Dodgeball, Table Tennis, Cricket, Athletics, Softball, Short Tennis & Rounders. It is our hope that all students will develop a lifelong passion for sport and a range of practical skills that can be used within KS4 PE. Students may also wish to participate in our extensive extra-curricular sports programme and take the opportunity to compete in inter-school sporting fixtures.

Pathways this course can lead to 

The range, breadth and diversity of our curriculum is designed to ensure that we immerse students in to a comprehensive range of physical activities and sport, in the hope that we engage, excite and excel our students within the subject. As a result, a significant number of our Key Stage 3 students continue their studies in to Key Stage 4, studying the Level 1 in Sports Leadership, Btec First Award in Sport or GCSE PE qualifications. All three qualifications have achieved outstanding results in recent years. From 2014-17 100% of students studying GCSE PE have achieved A*- C grades and met or exceeded their expected levels of progress.

Extra curricular opportunities 

At St John’s Catholic Comprehensive School we pride ourselves on the extensive sporting opportunities which are made available to our students. Our extra-curricular sports programme is designed to give students the very best chance to further develop their sporting abilities as well as providing an avenue for competitive inter-school sporting fixtures. Our fixture calendar is vast, entering teams in local, regional and national competitions throughout a range of sports. As a result of our high quality extra-curricular programme, our students regularly achieve county, regional and national honours. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of staff and pupils alike, the school has recently been awarded the ‘Bronze School Games Mark’. This acknowledged the quality of sport provision and extensive range of competitive opportunities offered to students during the last academic year. Furthermore, we also have a number of extra-curricular excursions to international sporting fixtures in cricket, netball, rugby and table tennis.