Thank you to all you inspirational PE teachers who give so much to your young people as we come to the finishing straight of one of the most challenging terms.
A great example of these teachers is the PE team at Hethersett Academy who have done a phenomenal job implementing our Building Mental Fitness programme to transform the wellbeing of their young people.
Hethersett Academy is a coeducational secondary school located in the village of Hethersett in Norfolk, UK. They were one of the first schools Future Action worked in partnership with. Their brilliant Head of PE, Nick Austin & Sarah Alothman, talks us through the journey they have been on to transform the life chances of their young people through Building Mental Fitness:
"Background
At the start of the first lockdown in March 2020 we found time to complete extra reading in academic research and department blogs on the various PE curriculum offered at different schools.
This led us to decide that our traditional multi activity was not fit for purpose and designed a models based curriculum that focused on concepts from STAD Athletics, TGfU, Hybrid Games, Cooperative Learning, Student Designed Games and Health Based PE.
By the end term 1 in 2020 we were already seeing the benefits of this new curriculum, with increased engagement and challenge levels across all students, and started to focus on how key stage 4 could be improved too.
Building upon the work from Sport England, with particular reference to the six youth personalities, the final product was that we designed a curriculum that groups students on personality.
At the end of KS3 students opt for one of the following routes for study in their next school year.
● Health and Wellbeing
● Sport Education
● Social Cohesion
● Technical Development (Multi Activity)
With the effects of lockdown having an obvious impact on everyone’s mental wellbeing we felt PE was perfectly placed to help ensure our students had knowledge of strategies to build their mental fitness. Two of our department then completed the training available from Future Action in preparation to deliver the Building Mental Fitness module from Sep 2021. This would be placed in the Health and Wellbeing route.
Delivery
The BMF course has been taught for 1 weekly 60 minute lesson to each of year 9, 10 and 11 since the start of the 21/22 academic year.
Students have been working through a Building Mental Fitness booklet based on the editable resources provided by Future Action. We feel this has led to an increased number of students enjoying lessons and gaining a better appreciation of Building Mental Fitness as a part of a meaningful learning experience.
Student Feedback:
From an even spread of respondents in year 9, 10 and 11 we found the following;
Positive Response Question topic Negative Response
69.3% Enjoyment of lessons 3.8%
73.1% Appropriate lesson topics 7.6%
42.6% Development of strategies 6.4%
60.4% Interest of theory 8.4%
26.9% Improved wellbeing 1.5%
36.2% Increased activity time 14.9%
With this data from the first cycle of the module on the curriculum we are really excited for how it can grow to help students develop further. The overwhelming majority of students have positive and/or neutral experiences so far and we believe this will improve as our teaching becomes even better in this module.
Next Steps
We will now look to develop each year's curriculum with a focus to provide a logical development in building mental fitness through the ages with lesson topics taking into account the areas cited by students as important to them.
Building Mental Fitness Training CPD
Building mental fitness is a course that we would definitely recommend to other PE departments who are looking to upskill in their delivery of teaching the knowledge needed for young people to recognise and develop strategies for their own mental wellbeing.
The course tutor Neil Moggan, is passionate and keen to engage with staff to develop this brilliant opportunity for all students. The training is user friendly and with the online resources can be used continually to aid planning of lessons.
Nick Austin & Sarah Alothman, Hethersett Academy"
How we can help you
If you would like to join this movement of inspirational teachers, then the Building Mental Fitness course teaches you and your colleagues how to set up an award winning program with easy to follow videos and a comprehensive set of editable resources to save you hours of time planning and creating resources.
Every school we work with is unique and has it's own challenges and needs, so why not book a call to discuss your needs and how we could work in partnership with you? https://calendly.com/info-33513/30min
To find out more visit our website at: https://www.futureaction.net/courses
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