The Physical Education Faculty is presently composed of eight full time staff:
Mr T Colquhoun, Head of Faculty; Mrs N Moon, 2nd in Faculty; Mr J Hayne, PE teacher; Mr S Cross, PE Teacher & Head of Windsor House; Mrs A Blackburn, PE Teacher; Miss S Entwistle; Mr P Mason, PE Teacher and SSCo.
There are extensive Physical Education facilities at Churchill Community School which are part of a dual-use agreement with North Somerset Council. The facilities comprise:
- Indoor Heated Swimming Pool
- Sports Hall with 4 Badminton Courts
- 1 Squash Court
- ‘Trainers’ Cardio Vascular Training Suite
- Weight Training Room
- "Dry" Changing Rooms
- "Wet" Changing Rooms
- Floodlit hard play areas (Football and Netball)
- Floodlit Redgra All Weather Area (Hockey, Athletics)
- Redgra Long Jump, Triple Jump pit
- 2 Competitive High Jump areas
- 4 Grass Pitches (Rugby, Football)
- Grass Cricket square and artificial strip
- Tennis Courts - in conjunction with the LTA
- Gymnasium + Boys and Girls Changing Rooms
- School Hall
- Dance Studio
All facilities, except the Gymnasium, Hall and Dance Studio are part of the dual-use arrangement.
Dual-Use at Churchill
The School has access to all facilities during the school day from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm. In the case of the Sports Hall and playing fields this extends to 6.00 pm and can be later by agreement. A close working relationship has been developed between the School and the Sports Centre management with special arrangements made in order to provide Life Guards during school swimming sessions.
Teaching Programme
Physical Education has an important place in the school curriculum. The school works on a ten-day timetable with five 1 hour lessons per day. In Years 7 - 11 students receive 4 x 1 hour lessons per fortnight whilst Years 12/13 receive 2 x 1 hour lessons.
Currently, the teaching programme for Key Stage 3 students is based on a ‘wave’ programme where students work on one sport/activity for 6 lessons over 3 weeks before moving on. In Year 7, students are taught in mixed ability and mixed gender groups for all activities. In Year 8, we group students together in single gender groups according to ability level. Activities taught include
Major team games: rugby, netball, hockey, football, cricket & rounders
Supporting activities: gymnastics, health related fitness, badminton, basketball, swimming, net/racket games, volleyball, orienteering, yoga, & athletics
The Key Stage 4 programme is based upon an options system where students have an element of choice in deciding on activities followed. In Year 10, students choose to follow an ‘Options Pathway’ for the year, focusing on a particular type of sports/activities. In Year 11, students follow a completely optional programme and choose 2 different activities per week for the duration of the term. Traditional PE activities (such as rugby and netball) are still on offer but we are pleased to make use of local coaches and staff expertise to offer new activities such as yoga, aikido, fencing, lacrosse, trampolining, ultimate frisbee, softball, squash, weight training, girls rugby/football and mixed netball are all offered at the appropriate time of the year.
The Year 12/13 programme is aimed to encourage maximum participation and all students are required to attend. Activities are selected from a wide range of options, the only limitation being adequate numbers and staffing. The Year 12/13 students are encouraged to make use of nearby facilities, including the Dry Ski slope, Golf Course and the Mendip Hills for Mountain Bike riding.
GCSE Physical Education
The AQA GCSE course was introduced to the first cohort of students at Churchill in 1996. Fourteen years on, the course remains hugely popular with 2 or 3 groups established each year. Recent years have seen between 75 and 80% of our students receive grades A* - C.
Dance
The school has gained Specialist School Status in the Performing Arts. The subject has grown in importance during the past few years and has become an integral part of the Performing Arts status. A new Dance Studio has been an exciting addition to the school’s facilities. Members of the Physical Education Faculty occasionally contribute to the delivery of Dance courses. They have also helped in the preparation of performances, both for the local community and for the North Somerset Dance Association ‘Dancefest’ Competition.
GCE A-Level PE
The AQA AS and A2 courses have also been running for over ten years here at Churchill. The course has become a very popular option with around 20 students opting for A Level PE each year. Once again, we always experience very high levels of success and candidates would ideally have the relevant knowledge and experience enabling them to be part of the delivery of the A Level course.
BTEC Level 2 Sport
In September 2010 we are introducing the BTEC Level 2 course for the first time to students in Year 9 as a three year course. We are excited to be offering this new opportunity and candidates would ideally have had experience of teaching on vocational courses such as the BTEC.
Extra Curricular Activities
Members of the faculty take responsibility for a wide range of extra-curricular activities. These include clubs for Badminton, Tennis, Hockey, Swimming, Squash, Table Tennis, Badminton and Basketball as well as ‘major` games teams which are run on a ‘Year` basis. Each year group has an inter-school fixture list in a variety of team games - principally rugby, football, hockey, netball, rounders, athletics, cricket and tennis. In recent years, both boys and girls have played in the more formal North Somerset Leagues, Tournaments and Championships which has helped to push up the standard of performance. Access to national competitions such as the Daily Mail Rugby Cup and Daily Telegraph Netball Cup has provided our students with further high quality competition experiences.
Internal House competitions also take place on a ‘Year` basis in a wide range of sports. Teams and individuals from Churchill Community School have performed with great credit at District, County and National level and emphasis is put on working closely with clubs in the local and wider community in order to assist young people to develop excellence in their chosen sport.