Physical Education

Physical Education is a subject that can support the physical and mental wellbeing of students. Through this area of experience, students can develop and practice practical skills, participate in individual and team activities, and learn how to set and reach challenging goals. The Colaiste Pobail Bheanntrai Physical Education programme involves learning and being challenged in a number of physical activities relating to their current level of physical development.

Mission Statement:

Learners will be supported to make informed decisions in a safe and challenging environment through participation in physical activities.

Key values:
  • Team membership
  • Participation
  • Consistent effort
  • Support and motivation
  • Success
  • Motor skill development
  • Social responsibility
PE is a compulsory subject at Colaiste Pobail Bheanntrai and every student must have the following to take part in each lesson:
  • T-shirt and shorts or a track suit
  • Runners or football boots (Depending on activity)
  • Towel
  • No item of school uniform may be used during PE lessons
  • All Jewellery must be remove prior to each lesson

Facilities at Colaiste Pobail Bheanntrai

Colaiste Pobail Bheanntrai boasts some of the most modern sports facilities in 2nd level education in Ireland. These include: a complete gym and sports hall housing a full basketball court; expansive, well-drained fields and 5 multi sports courts which are lined for tennis, volleyball, basketball and soccer.

Syllabus Structure

The syllabus includes a number of areas of study representative of a range of practical activities, each of which has particular characteristics and contributes to the attainment of the overall aim of physical education.
These areas of study are:
  1. Adventure activities
  2. Aquatics
  3. Athletics
  4. Dance
  5. Invasion games
  6. Net and fielding games
  7. Gymnastics
  8. Health-related activity
The areas of study are presented in greater detail on the following pages.

 

Adventure Activities:

  • Orienteering
  • Kayaking
  • Sailing
  • Team challenge
  • Campcraft
Adventure activities at junior cycle provide students with the opportunity to develop personally, socially, and physically in a safe and challenging environment. Presenting the student with an element of adventure and challenge in a controlled environment can lead to the development of qualities such as self-reliance, self-confidence, responsibility, regard for others and respect for the environment. In this way, aspects of holistic development that are generally not emphasised in other areas of physical education can be addressed.

Aquatics:

  • Entry
  • Movement in water
  • Aqua fitness
  • Water safety
Aquatics has a unique place in a balanced physical education programme. It provides students with a water-based learning experience through participation in a range of structured activities. It provides opportunities for the personal, physical, and social development of each student in a safe, enjoyable environment. There is an emphasis on the students’ movement in the water, either by means of identifiable strokes or combinations/ adaptations thereof. The students’ understanding of personal safety and life saving in the aquatic environment is also addressed. The Aquatics module in Colaiste Pobail Bheanntrai takes place in the Maritime Hotel.

Athletics:

  • Jumping
  • Running
  • Throwing
Athletics at this level involves learning through participation in the fundamental athletic activities of running, jumping, and throwing. The skills associated with these activities can, at junior cycle, begin to be applied to modified forms of standard events. The element of competition inherent in athletics is presented here with reference to the abilities of the individual student. Hence the students’ experience of competitive situations is in the context of personal goals rather than relating performance to that of others.

Events Covered:

  • Javelin
  • Discuss
  • Hammer
  • Shot Putt
  • High Jump
  • Sprints
  • Sprint Hurdles
  • Relay
  • Middle Distance Running
  • Long Distance Running

Dance:

  • Basic actions
  • Movement quality
  • Relationships
  • Dance creation
Dance seeks to provide a context for aesthetic and artistic experience and enables the students to develop personally, socially, and physically through participation in dance in an enjoyable environment. At junior cycle, students are presented with opportunities to extend their understanding of a variety of dance forms. Students will be exposed to learning situations where they interpret ideas and feelings and respond to stimuli using dance movements.

Games:

  • Games making
  • Attacking play
  • Defensive play
Through participation in a variety of games in a safe and enjoyable environment, students will be presented with the opportunity to develop personally, socially, and physically. The teaching of skills and technique is given less priority than the development of tactical awareness through the exploration of principles of play. Skill acquisition is seen in the context of the students’ involvement in the game situation and of enabling them to make appropriate decisions based on their evolving level of tactical awareness.

Games Covered:

  • Basketball
  • Volleyball
  • Badminton
  • Tennis
  • Soccer
  • Rugby
  • Gaelic Football
  • Hurling
  • Cricket
  • Rounders
  • Dodgeball

Gymnastics:

  • Themes
  • Movement vocabulary
  • Qualitative focus
  • Relationships
Gymnastics seeks to provide a context for aesthetic experience and the opportunity to develop personally, socially, and physically through participation in gymnastics in a safe and enjoyable environment. In this activity, the student aims to develop body management and awareness through movement, with a focus on precision and form. This latter emphasis distinguishes the learning in gymnastics from that in the majority of other physical education activity areas.

Health-Related Activity:

  • Activity and the body
  • Fitness
  • Training
  • Lifelong activity
This aspect of the syllabus is distinctive inasmuch as it attempts to draw together the other physical education activities in order to provide students with the opportunity to develop an understanding of health-related fitness and to apply its principles to actual participation. Its inclusion is reflective of the view that promotion of skilled movement and fitness is an important means of developing and maintaining healthy lifestyles.

Extra-Curricular Sport at Colaiste Pobail Bheanntrai

Sport is an integral part of life for many of the 768 pupils at Colaiste Pobail Bheanntrai, with over 400 students representing the school in over 15 sports. College teams and individual teams compete in the Regional Secondary Schools competitions. Annually, our teams will travel throughout Munster and Ireland to compete in the Irish Secondary Schools National Tournaments. Supporting our students is a network of expert coaches who are all teachers in the school. In addition to these coaches, we have fantastic facilities which include: a complete gym and sports hall housing a full basketball court; expansive, well-drained fields and 5 multi sports courts which are lined for tennis, volleyball, basketball and soccer.