KEY INFORMATION

Recommended age group: 11–14 (KS3)
Time required: one 60 min session
Equipment: Get set to Ace it Values certificate, PEP yourself up activity sheet, PEP yourself up example images presentation.


ACTIVITY IDEA

In this activity, students will create a Personal Exercise Plan (PEP) based on a sport or physical activity that they enjoy.

Students will be able to:

  • recognise the impact of exercise on the way their bodies function
  • develop their technique and improve their performance
  • analyse their performances compared to previous efforts and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best.

TEACHER NOTES

  1. Explain to students how many athletes and sports players have a PEP or Personal Exercise Plan/Programme to help them stay fit and keep healthy. Many students who undertake PE for GCSE also must produce a PEP.
  2. A PEP can help an ordinary person to get and stay fit, keep healthy and feel good. Explain that the students are going to design their own PEP based on a sport or activity they enjoy but first they are going to see an example involving tennis.
  3. Show the images in the PEP yourself up presentation and ask the students to write down five physical attributes that tennis players need. Ideas might include:
    • strength
    • speed
    • stamina
    • flexibility
    • balance
    • agility
  4. Discuss these and then show an example of a simple PEP for someone who enjoys playing tennis, as outlined here:
    • day 1: shuttle sprints 5 mins; high knee run 10 mins; sit-ups (20); rotations (20)
    • day 2: jogging 10 mins; assorted stretches 10 mins; weight training 15 mins
    • day 3: shuttle sprints 5 mins; press-ups (20); star jumps (20); stretches 10 mins
    • day 4: skipping 5 mins; high knee run 10 mins; sit-ups (20); weights 10 mins
    • day 5: jogging 20 mins; assorted stretches 15 mins.
  5. Ask students why they think these exercises would help a tennis player.
  6. Students use the PEP yourself up worksheet to identify their preferred sports and begin to devise their own PEP using the table of example exercises. If suitable, some students can also independently research suitable exercises for their chosen sport and what benefits the exercises provide.
  7. The students finalise their PEPs with the help of peer assessment to ensure they are realistic and plan their first actions.

MAKE IT ACTIVE

A confident and capable student could demonstrate some of the exercises so that other students understand them.

  • Students can work in pairs in a PE lesson to try out their PEP exercises and see if they are suitable/realistic. Students could put their PEP onto a small card and laminate it to make it easily portable.
  • The Get Set to Ace it Values Certificate below or the Get Set individual Values Certificates can be used to reward those who exhibit the Values during this work.