The PE Advisor has issued a brief initial outline of guidance from AfPE regarding restarting PE when schools return on the 8th March.
“We are still waiting for the Government to update its guidance for sport, but these are the recommendations that I will make, based on advice from the Association for PE.” Ian Roberts
1 – No inter school fixtures or tournaments until grassroot sports allow such competition in the wider community
2 – Swimming lessons can return to normal as part of the curriculum (on site and off-site) after March 8 2021
3 – Sports can return to normal as part of curriculum delivery, including after school clubs after March 8 2021.
4 – Face-coverings do not have to be worn for Physical Education lessons
5 – Recent research has shown that there is a near negligible risk of the virus being transmitted via sports equipment (https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/news-events/news/transmission-risk-of-covid-19-from-sports-equipment), and although it remains good practice to clean frequently handled equipment such as grips, handles and gym mats, we can have a more common sense and proportional approach to the use of general PE equipment such as balls and cones.
6 – my final recommendation to schools is rather than revert to a normal content driven PE offer, consider what children most need at this time and plan the curriculum round that. We know that their resilience, physical fitness, fine and gross motor skills, communication, confidence etc may well have taken a bit of a hit this year. Plan lessons to help address these things – there is a new normal!
Please click on the link which takes you to further guidance regarding restarting PE. PE March 8 – wider re-opening 04_03_21 V1
AfPE – Reactivation of learning through PE
Get Set 4 PE
Get Set 4 PE have also released a really useful publication taken from guidance produced by the Department for Education on how PE can commence from the 8th March.
