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Subject: Physical Education
Topic: Physical Activity for Health and Fitness (LCA Module 2)
No. of Learners: 16
Gender: Mixed
Average Age: 15/16 years
Year: LCA 1 & TY
No. of Lessons: 6
Duration of Lessons: 80 minutes
Specific Pupil Needs: 2 students with ASD

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Learners Level of Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes

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Learners Level of Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes

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Prior Knowledge
The learners at this point in the year have completed a module in Sport Education in which they were the coaches/teachers, a unit of work in Soccer. These learners would have taken part in a unit of work in HRA in their Junior Cycle PE programme in the school and would therefore have a basic understanding of health and fitness.

Prior Skills
Learners have developed their Fundamental Movement Skills in previous modules when they were at Junior Cycle level. Some of these skills will be transferable to the games and activities that will be introduced to the learners during this unit of work.

Prior Attitudes
Overall this group of students have a great attitude to PE. I find that with this group, they like PE as a place to switch off from the rest of school life and to have a bit of fun with their classmates. Although they want it to be fun, they always put in their best effort and can even get quite competitive during lessons.

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I have to chosen this unit of work for my class as they are currently in their 4th year in the school and they have a lot more freedom in the choices that can be made for them this year. Some of the group of students that I am teaching are undertaking the Leaving Cert Applied Course and will therefore have to complete a Key Assignment this year. I have decided to do Module 2 as their key assignment and this is called Physical Activity for Health and Fitness. Most of the students that I teach are very interested in the gym and keeping fit and therefore I think that by completing their first key assignment in Physical Activity for Health and Fitness will help to keep them interested whilst they are completing their key assignments. This init of work also links strongly with Strand 1 of the Junior Cycle short course Physical Activity for Health and Wellbeing and as these learners have never experienced this curriculum before it will be very beneficial to them as an experience in their learning.

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As with any other lesson, the class will begin with the learners entering the PE hall and their roll call will be taken. At this point any housekeeping that has to be dealt with will be done. This will include the students informing me whether they have the correct kit with them or not and if necessary filling out notes for the students. If there are any notes that were sent out in the previous lesson I will also check them to ensure that they have been signed by the parents.
Once this has been completed the students will go to the changing rooms and they will change into their PE gear. As the learners re-enter the PE hall I will check to ensure that shoes are tied properly and that all jewellery has been removed.
The lesson itself will begin with a brief discussion, the first lesson of the unit of work will outline the Instructional Model that has been chosen. Each lesson will comprise of a warm up, a main body, a cool down and a conclusion.
The beginning of each lesson will include a short discussion about the topic of the lesson that they are undertaking for that day. This will help them to understand their key assignment much more and will also help them to develop a deeper understanding for the topic and develop much more of an appreciation for the topic which they can then translate into their every day lives.

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Turning
Twisting
Balancing
Hopping
Skipping
Transferring Weight
Stretching
Throwing
Catching
Walking
Running

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Literacy
"Literacy includes the capacity to read, understand and critically appreciate various forms of communication including spoken language, printed text, broadcast media, and digital media" (DES, 2011, p.8).

- Non-participant activities will also help to develop the learners' literacy skills
- Literacy skills will be developed through the use of learning walls
- Learners will keep a logbook of the learning that has taking place for their key assignments, this will help to develop the learners written literacy abilities.

Numeracy
"Numeracy encompasses the ability to use mathematical understanding and skills to solve problems and meet the demands of day-to-day living in complex social settings" (DES, 2011, p.8).

- Learners will become familiar with the FITT Principle and what this means for them when they are taking part in different types of physical activity
- Learners will become aware of reps and sets
- Learners will become aware of their capabilities when using weights
- Learners will be aware of their MHR and will be able to calculate different percentages so they know what range they should be working within

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Within this unit of work the learners can improve their digital fluency skills through the use if ICT.

My idea for the use of ICT in this unit of work is that the learners will keep a weekly blog of what they have completed in the lessons and this will tie in with their key assignments. As well as keeping a weekly blog of what has happened in the lesson, I also want the learners to develop their Fitness Programme on an online platform so that it is easily accessible to them outside of the school environs.

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"The ability to think critically and creatively, innovate and adapt to change, to work independently and in a team, and to be a reflective learner are prerequisites for life and for the workplace in the 21st century" (NCCA, 2009, p.2).

Information Processing
Learners will be processing new vocabulary and information that is communicated to them by the teacher. The students must be able to process the key guidelines for each section of the module and they must also understand the physical activity guidelines as this will help them to become lifelong participants in physical activity.

Communicating
Students will be communicating with each other and with the teacher throughout the unit of work. They will share their ideas and thoughts throughout.

Critical and Creative Thinking
Students will have to develop critical and creative thinking skills as they will be designing their fitness programme within the unit of work.

Working with Others
Learners will be working with others during the unit of work when they are completing circuit work.

Being Personally Effective
Learners will have to be personally effective during the unit of work as they learn new information and put it into practice.

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"Learning in senior cycle physical education is designed to ensure that students appreciate the importance of physical activity not only for their physical wellbeing but also their social and psychological wellbeing" (NCCA, 2017, p.9).

I think that this unit of work will help highlight to the students how important their own wellbeing is and how they can promote their own wellbeing through the use of physical activity. As the Framework for Senior Cycle PE highlights we have a very important position in this in the school setting especially in PE and as a "result of their learning in senior cycle physical education, students should have a greater sense of their own agency and commitment to regular health-enhancing physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle" (NCCA, 2017, p.9).

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Learning Wall
Computer
Projector
Key Assignment Sheets
Cardio Machines (Treadmill, Rower, Elliptical, Bike)
Weights machines (Lat Pull Down, Triceps/Biceps Machine, Chest Press)
Aerobics Steps
Stability Wheel
Dumbbells
Circuit Cards

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1. evaluate their own health-related physical fitness
2. compare the components of health-related and performance-related physical fitness
3. monitor their participation in activities designed to enhance one or more health-related fitness components using the FITT formula (Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type) Physical activity participation
4. discuss the benefits of regular physical activity that they have experienced as a result of their participation
5. identify different supports that helped them begin and/or continue to be physically active
6. create a personal activity profile identifying abilities, attitudes, motivations and barriers to their own participation following a selfassessment
7. use a range of strategies to overcome barriers to regular participation in physical activity
8. identify physical activity opportunities in school and in their communities Designing a physical activity programme
9. identify reliable resources to support their planning of a healthrelated and/or performance-related physical fitness programme
10. use their personal physical fitness results to plan and implement an effective, enjoyable and balanced fitness programme which aims to improve health-related/ performance-related physical fitness
11. plan a physical activity programme designed to enhance healthrelated physical fitness for an individual with an activity profile different to their own

Take from the Senior Cycle PE Framework

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I have decided to select the Health Related Physical Fitness (HRPF) Instructional Model to base my unit of work on. I have selected this instructional model as I believe it is the best fit for the topic that I am teaching to the group. It is highly focused on fitness and it will link very closely with the topics and themes of the key assignments that my LCA students will have to complete.

I believe that this unit of work will help my students to achieve positive attitudes towards physical activity and will help them to become lifelong participants of physical activity, "pupils valuing a physically active life, so that they learn to value and practice appropriate physical activities that enhance health and wellbeing for the rest of their lives" (Haerens et al., 2011, p.321).

After reading the Senior Cycle PE framework and looking at the objectives that are set out for Health Related Physical Activity / Fitness, it was the best model to incorporate Physical Activity for Health and Wellbeing with the LCA module of Physical Activity for Health and Fitness. The objectives as they are set out by the SCPE Framework are as follows:

"understanding and committing to physical activity which develops health-related physical fitness

participating in physical activity both inside and beyond the school

acting as informed participants in physical activity

examining the value of physical activity in different contexts" (NCCA, 2017, p19).

The objectives of what are set out are what I endeavour to pass on to my students at the end of the unit of work and that is why I have chosen to use this instructional model to complete the unit of work.

The ESRI report in 2013 (Lunn, Kelly & Fitzpatrick, 2013) also reported a number of people drop out of physical activity as they age and that there seems to be a huge drop off when they are in second level education. I hope that by introducing this model it can help to begin counteract this effect and keep my learners as lifelong participants of physical activity.

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The Instructional Model of Health Related Physical Fitness (HRPF) has a variety of features that are inside of its model. One of the first features of the HRPF Model is that it teaches the students the importance of taking part in physical activity, including the reasons for taking part in physical activity. The feature of the Instructional Model that I think is its most importance feature is that it provides the students with the knowledge as to why they should become lifelong participants in physical activity and my aim as a PE teacher is that the students will take something from my lessons that will encourage them to be lifelong learners and participants in physical activity.

The model introduces the learners to the FITT Principle which they can then apply to their own training as they move forward and out of the school environs and as they develop into adults.

The model also includes the feature of introducing the learners how to reduce the risk of injury when they are taking part in physical activity through the completion of correct warm up and cool down procedures before and after physical activity and using dynamic and static stretches at the correct moments in training sessions.

The model also helps the students to be aware of high active they currently are through the use of activity logs and it helps them to plan where they can include more physical activity in their days.

The model also shows the learners how they can test different aspects of their physical fitness such as their components of skill related fitness and their components of health fitness.

Another feature of the model is that the learners will learn about the joints and muscles in the body and how they move, this is essential for the learners to be aware of how they are moving during physical activity and this also links with the LCA Leisure and Recreation Module 2. (Luttrell & Chambers, 2013).

Below is a video that outlines why we should be using a HRPF based model for teaching in PE.

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VLOG 17: Should we have a model for Health-Based PE?

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(Luttrell & Chambers, 2013)

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The assessment tools that I will put into place during this unit of work is that the learners will have to keep a blog of the learning that they have done each week. In these blogs the students will be expected to explain what they covered in the class and what their take home message from the lesson is.

As well as a blog, I will get the students to keep a personal activity log so that they can assess how active they are themselves and they can then see if they have improved their activity levels over the period of the unit. At the end of the unit I will take up the activity logs to assess the students.

The final piece of assessment that I will implement with the learners is getting them to design their own training plan that they can use once the unit of work has finished inside of the school setting. I will be assessing the students use of the FITT principle in relation to the type of physical activity that the learners have chosen to design the programme for. I will be checking to "ensure that exercises and circuits for flexibility and muscular strength and endurance are appropriate and correct" (NCCA, 2000, p.21).

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DES. (2011). Literacy and numeracy for learning and life: The national strategy to improve literacy and numeracy among children and young people 2011 - 2020. Dublin: Department of Education and Skills.

Haerens, L., Kirk, D., Cardon, G., & De Bourdeaudhuij, I. (2011). Toward the development of a pedagogical model for health-based physical education. QUEST. 63(3). pp.321–338.

Lunn, P., Kelly, E. & Fitzpatrick, N. (2013). Keeping them in the game: Taking up and dropping out sport and exercise in Ireland. Research Series Number 33. Dublin: Irish Sports Council / ESRI.

Luttrell, S. & Chambers, F.C. (2013). Senior cycle physical education curriculum and instructional models: Pathways for teacher implementation. Dublin: eprint.ie Ltd.

NCCA. (2000). Leisure and recreation. Dublin: The Stationary Office.

NCCA. (2009). Senior cycle: Key skills framework. Dublin: NCCA.

NCCA. (2017). Physical education framework: Senior cycle. Dublin: NCCA.