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.
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.
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.
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.
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