Taking part in PE - hints & tips

Talk about PE to your child

• What do they find hard? Do they like PE? What would make PE more fun to them?
• What sports interest them? You can encourage interest in a sport without them actually
  playing the sport. Sport can be enjoyed by all and that includes the fans, the referees
  and officials, not just the players. Being a sports fan can help with conversations with
  friends
• Fast moving team sports can be tricky e.g. football has a moving ball, moving players,
  moving targets and you are moving with a ball. What about trying judo, fencing, cricket,
  golf, running, athletics, dancing or swimming?
• Use a problem-solving approach. Get your child to break the activity down into steps
  and identify where things are going wrong
• Question your child about the task, for example, how can we make throwing at a target
  easier? Or how can we make this obstacle course harder? This helps the child to make
  the activity ‘just right’ for them

Talk to the School PE staff

PE staff want all children involved in sport and may be able to help with:

• Giving you the PE timetable so you can prepare for sports ahead of time, get familiar
  with the rules and skills required for this terms sports
• Doing team selection so no one is always last or left out. Can children beat their own
  record rather than be the first at sports?
• Changing the environment, equipment or even the rules, PE staff want all kids to choose
  an active and healthy lifestyle so the court size, sports equipment can be changed to suit
• Children’s worries can be reduced with extra time for getting changed, getting a chance
  to practise on their own before joining the group
• Keep pupils PE kit in the department
• PE equipment like balls with ribbon attached, larger bats, softer balls, can help with
  taking part
• Break down the sport into bite size chunks for the child. Give them extra time to practice