The athletics strand provides a variety of opportunities to engage in the natural activities of running, jumping and throwing. The child needs to learn to associate joyfulness with these experiences. The emphasis should be on exploring and experimenting with the basic movements of walking, running, jumping and throwing through a wide range of informal play experiences. Building on these early experiences, children then develop the techniques of running, jumping and throwing as they progress through the primary school. Running activities can be devised to encourage children to run and to accept challenges to their personal performances by running faster or by running over a longer distance. Jumping activities will give the child an opportunity to explore various jumps and to develop technique for height and distance. The child participates in throwing activities using objects of different shapes and weights and develops a variety of throwing techniques, improving accuracy and distance.
Primary School PE Curriculum, page 3.
- PDST Athletics Resources
- Other Athletics Resources
This resource explores the FMS of running, warm ups, sprinting, relays and planning.
Introduction to physical literacy exemplified through running, jumping and throwing examples.
Sample inclusive athletics lesson plan focussed on throwing.
The PDST Primary PE team has developed non contact activities to support the teaching of Physical Education across the primary school.
Move Well Move Often Physical Literacy website with resources which can be used to develop FMS of running, jumping and throwing, motivation and confidence as well as knowledge and understanding in PE.
Sample lesson plans highlighting how fundamental movement skills can be embedded in athletics lessons.
6 sample athletics lessons across all primary school class levels.
Resource which highlights specific Move Well Move Often skills and activities suitable for athletics.
Tips for teaching high jump, standing long jump, long jump, javelin, shot put, discus, sprinting, relays and hurdles.
Throwing, jumping and running station activities.
Adapting activities and classroom management for running, jumping and throwing activities.
PE homework activities and charts to complement PE strand based learning undertaken in school. Specific athletics activities included.
PE homework videos and activity packs to compliment PE FMS learning undertaken in school.
A short video clip example of a sample skipping rhyme ‘Teddy Bear’ from the PE at home resource. Further information about learning to skip with a rope is available here.
An Inclusive Approach to the Development of Physical Literacy for All Pupils. This resource is full of strategies for inclusion for pupils with physical disabilities and learning needs and pupils who are autistic, blind or vision impaired, or deaf or hard of hearing.
A series of video clips that aim to complement strand based learning in PE at home. 8 athletics lessons for pupils to complete at home are included.
Cooperative learning is an instructional approach which supports pupils to work and learn together in PE. Cooperative learning can be used across any strand of the PE curriculum and has been shown to positively impact PE.
Selected open access resources which may be adapted to the Irish context from other organisations are linked below. Please note these are external resource not designed by the PDST and teachers should ensure they are appropriate for their own classes before use.
Elevating Athletics is designed to support teachers in delivering athletic activity in an inclusive, exciting and engaging manner.
This online resource highlights practices, strategies and resources to support teachers to include all children in primary PE lessons, with a focus on children with additional needs. Gross/Fine motor skills, sensory, communication, physical capabilities, attention/concentration and social, emotional, relational are some of the areas explored.
Action for Life is an Irish heart foundation PE and SPHE programme for primary schools. The programme includes lesson plans with activities and resources. This resource links to PDST Move Well Move Often and physical literacy development. It includes athletics strand lessons for junior, middle and senior classes.
This programme aims to inspire the young people of Ireland to ‘Dare to Believe’ in themselves through an interactive curriculum that explores the Olympic Values using Team Ireland role models to bring the messages to life. Click on the resource worksheets or click here to view the full resource and accompanying website
PE Support Agencies
