Investigating and developing fitness

Pupils should be given the opportunity to participate in energetic physical activity at regular intervals. This activity should allow all the major joints and muscles to bend and stretch and should raise the heart rate.

Pupils should be encouraged to discuss how they feel after such activity and describe what happens to the body, such as feeling hot and tired.

Teachers should promote personal responsibility among their pupils for appropriate aspects of physical well-being, eg. through encouraging them to change clothing for physical education.

Teachers should continue to provide regular opportunities for sustained physical activity which raises the pulse and breathing rates. Pupil activity should also require some muscular effort to be expended in terms of propelling, lifting, carrying and supporting loads, including own body weight.

Teachers should help pupils to understand some of the basic simple effects of exercise on the body, for example increased heart rate, feeling hot. Pupils should be shown how to locate the position of major muscles, joints, the heart and lungs.

Pupils should continue to be encouraged to look after themselves, especially in changing for physical education. They should also know something of the importance of exercise, rest, relaxation and sleep related to personal well-being.

Practically pupils should now be able to sustain, over a longer period, participation in physical activity which requires the pulse and breathing rates to rise. Whilst such activity will probably be intermittent, it should continue for an increasing length of time.

Pupils should now be ready and inquisitive to know more about how the heart, lungs, and muscles work. Information on the structure and working of each could be provided by linking with learning in other areas of the curriculum. Pupils should now be able to understand and identify the use of particular parts of the body with specific physical activities, eg. footballers need strong legs, volleyballers require flexible fingers, gymnasts need strong arms to take weight on hands.

In terms of encouraging healthy habits pupils should be given an understanding of the broad relationship between food, energy and activity, They should continue to be encouraged to change for physical education and assume increasing responsibility for personal hygiene.

Physical activities at this stage should continue to offer pupils a range of experiences which include raising the pulse and breathing rates and require muscular effort to be expended in terms of the propelling, lifting, carrying and supporting of loads.

Pupils should now be able to monitor heart rate on self and others. Such activities might usefully link to studies in other areas of the curriculum.

Information on health issues and safety practices should be extended, eg. how improved use of the body enhances safety, why knowing own limits in participation is important.

Pupils should also be encouraged to increase knowledge and practice in personal hygiene and to become aware of body changes at puberty. Many of these health issues can create meaningful links with Health Studies.

Pupils should be encouraged to maintain and extend personal fitness and to become informed about body changes at puberty.

They should also be encouraged to evaluate their own lifestyles and to distinguish between exercise for the enhancement of performance and exercise for health and well-being.

The opportunity to make decisions regarding what, how and why to exercise should be given. They might also find it interesting to construct a personal profile with regard to height, weight, limb length, muscular performance, flexibility, speed and to monitor changes to these factors over a school year.

Looking after self should, if possible, now include the opportunity to shower after physical education lessons and a fuller understanding of why this is important.

The use of specialised equipment and environments should be understood in the context of personal fitness, safety and health.