Physical Education
Physical Education is compulsory for every student in the school. From first year to third year all students follow the Junior Cycle PE Curriculum as recommended by the Department of Education and Skills. Each PE class is a double class (around 1 hr 20mins) and all classes have this once a week. Transition Year students have a triple class (just under 2 hrs) once a week and this consists of leisure and recreation activities and off site trips. The senior cycle also consists of a double class once a week and the programme consists of the needs and likes of each individual class to encourage participation including trips to the gym and fitness classes.
All classes in the school are mixed ability and co-educational. Each child with special educational needs is catered for on an individual basis and has full access to the curriculum. All students in the school are greatly encouraged to participate in extra-curricular clubs, classes and our end of year sports day. There are a wide range of activities available for all students regardless of ability levels and participation is our main aim as a PE Dept. There are clubs on five days a week at OCC and they all generally run from 3.45pm – 5pm. Please see the extra-curricular page for all photographs and an outline of what was available this year. Some of the PE initatives we are very proud of this year are the Beat the Bleep and Fitness Challenges, the Irun for Fun 5k challenge and the 2nd year Outdoor Adventure Trip to Tanagh.
Students are required to wear a PE uniform in all year groups and this consists of a black and red hooded top with the sports crest on it, a crested black t-shirt, black or navy track-suit bottoms and runners. This uniform must also be worn when representing the school at matches or on sporting trips.
Our PE Dept aims to offer a broad and balanced PE Programme, catering for the needs of all pupils and delivered in a safe and fun environment. Through the enhancement of the students’ physical, social, emotional and moral development, the programme aims to empower all students to sustain regular, lifelong physical activity as a foundation for a healthy, productive and fulfilling life.
In Junior Cycle, students are rquired to complete 1 classroom based assessment, as part of their wellbeing progamme. The four strands of the Junior Cycle PE short course develop the student’s knowledge and understanding across a wide range of psychomotor skills. For this reason, these assessment guidelines include different assessments specifically designed to capture evidence of students’ learning in each of the strands. Potentially, the student’s Classroom-Based Assessment can come from any one of these assessments. The assessments are designed to encourage students to strive for overall improvement in the selected physical activity. Each assessment also requires the student to complete a short reflection. It is important to provide different ways of reflecting to ensure that students do not become weary of the process but are energised and enthused by it and see its value. Students can submit their reflections in a variety of formats including written, audio and video formats
There is no set curriculum for senior cycle PE in the Dept of Education so it is left up to each individual school to plan for this. Seniors get to choose their activities and we try to offer a wide range of sports for them to participate in and bring them off site for fitness classes and to go to the gym. The current 6th yrs did a 4 week programme in Gym an Ri in Kingscourt at the beginning of the year and yoga classes at the end of the year.
