According to a 2018 study in Wales, the schools that are most successful in challenging their more able and talented pupils have teachers who possess very high expectations of all pupils. They plan and match work to individual pupils’ abilities exceptionally well and they use the outcomes of assessment skilfully to plan next steps in pupils’ learning. However, too many teachers do not ensure that there is sufficient challenge in tasks to stretch more able and talented pupils. 

The same study also found that higher ability learners developed further when they were given the chance to learn independently and evaluate their own progress through a variety of stimulating and challenging learning opportunities. 

But how does this all apply to PE? Too often in the subject, it is easy to forget to challenge the higher ability children, as there are so many other things to think about when differentiating a session. A study by Mission KIDS found that children were put off by PE when the sessions were repetitive and lacked variety. And we all know that if a child isn’t appropriately stimulated then this can lead to poor or disruptive behaviour and could ultimately mean they may fall out of love with being active. 

At Active Education Co, we are on a mission to make sure this never happens! We have worked hard to create our brand new Challenge Cards. These cards are guaranteed to ensure your pupils will always be given the opportunities to take their learning further, through independent and team-based challenges. Within the pack, we also felt it was vital to include reflection questions to assist with teaching those critical evaluation skills.

You can check our challenge cards out here!

In addition, we will be hosting a free webinar exclusively for our Active Members, focussed specifically on challenging high ability learners in PE. You can sign up here.