GCSE P.E anyone ?

tessie_bear

hi
my son is in year 8 going into year 9 in sept he is very keen on sport he likes running, using the fitness room (at school), some team games and is an excellent swimmer however he hates football and has never as far as i know kicked a football in his life

we are wondering if gcse pe would be an enjoyable subject for him with all his sporty interests but worry it would all be taught through football which would stop him taking it

im sure we will get to talk to the pe staff but wondered if anyone had any knowledge they could share with us or had kids doing the subject

thankyou tess

ps he is very bright and quite easily bored

Elle7

There was no football in my GCSE - my school had advanced status for PE, and so everyone took it as compulsory along with their choices, IT, Critical Thinking etc.

It was very much theory, and I loved it. There was practicals, and plenty of opportunity to get involved with outside associations and practise sports you did enjoy - and there was plenty to be learnt on the muscles/oxygen/etc. I helped train the YR7 female football team.

A few people did apply to leave the course when it became apparent there was a big theory side, and there are exams in it, so it's worth speaking to the school to see if it is the same for your school and if so if he enjoys the theory side too.

Hope this helps

PenguinOfDeath

When I took mine 10 ish years ago we did 5 sports, off the top of my head I did netball, hockey, basketball, rounders and badminton.
The whole class did the same but there was the option of doing other sports if you had the interest/ability and the facilities

tessie_bear

thankyou both....very helpful replies with not too much football which is a bonus

pinkclouds

I didn't do Standard Grade PE (equivalent to GCSE) but quite a few people did, when I was at school. As far as I recall, there was a written paper just like every other Standard Grade subject. However, it was always considered a "soft" subject i.e. only for people who either were non-academic or extremely keen on sports. You could not give it precedence over choosing a "core" subject e.g. maths, science (chemistry, etc).

As PE was a compulsory subject (subject to time-tabling restrictions), I did a couple of Scotvecs instead - Hockey and Basketball. Even those short courses had written papers... although they were just multiple-choice questions.

The sports seemed to be at the mercy of existing school resources, so if the school doesn't have a football team then I doubt football would be one of the taught sports.

newcook

There were a few people at my school who took it as a GCSE subject (though you also had to do p.e a couple of times a week for fitness even if you didn’t have it as a core subject). Those who had decided to have it as a core subject was because they knew they would need it for jobs they wanted – one is now a p.e teacher, another is a sports therapist (cant remember what the others are!)

PenguinOfDeath

tessie_bear wrote: »

thankyou both....very helpful replies with not too much football which is a bonus

To be fair I'm not a boy (and I wasnt 10 years ago either...) but I did have the option to do football, and the boys could have done netball/hockey if they wanted.

If you had a word with the teachers there may be some provision for them to assess his swimming?

luxor4t

The mantra in my son's school was that GCSE PE was 'more writing than running', due to the large theory element.
If you know which exam board your son's school uses you can look up the requirements on the exam board's website.
Before year 9 pupils choose their GCSE options most schools hold 'options evenings' where parents can discuss the courses with the teaching staff.

System

I think as the above poster said there is definetly a written element but I think you get to chose what sport/activity you focus on, i knew someone who took it and did Irish Dancing, and someone else who did trampolining.

stef240377

My daughter completed GCSE PE last year and had 2 additional pe lessons a week on top of the compulsory ones. She quite often came home sounding like a medic with the latin names for certain bones in the body and what damage is done by various activities.
Her school also requested that over the 2 year period they study the subject they attend one of the two PGL type weeks away which count towards their final grades. Those weeks away cost about £150 each and like i say they are only requested to attend one but in the second year there was pressure for them to attend to keep the numbers up and with the enticement of extra marks towards their grades.

Pips_Mum

I am soooooooooooooooo useless at sport yet I did GSCE PE and managed to get a C!!
When I did mine (admitedly a few years ago!!) there was a fair bit of written stuff we did a lot of Anatomy and Physiology, which is why I chose to do it, and also a lot of study on the Olympic games and other sporting events.
I definately wouldnt let it put him off because he was worried it would be all practical as I say I am literally pathetic at most sports and still managed ok.
Good luck to him no matter what he chooses :-)