Physical Education

Introduction

North Ayrshire Council

The Education Services is responsible for 10 secondary schools, 53 primary schools, five nursery schools and four special schools.

The National PE Review Group Report (2004) contained a number of key recommendations for the future direction of physical education in Scottish schools.

In North Ayrshire, discussion of these recommendations and the acquisition of Scottish Executive funding led to the inception of a pilot project to inform future practice across three identified challenges:

  • the quality of physical education delivered in the primary sector
  • systematic support for primary schools by physical education specialists
  • effective/systematic use of ‘additional’ staff when available.

To make a significant impact on the quality of physical education being delivered it was decided to use PE specialists in a staff development role.

The specialists would work alongside primary staff to improve the quality of PE experienced by primary pupils. This option encouraged a wider impact and made use of primary staff expertise.