Royal School, Armagh

Key Stage 3 Activities

In Years 8 to 10 the girls are taught a wide variety of sports, which will progress from year to year. Each girl gets two periods of P.E. and three periods of Games every week. The activities have been specially selected to suit all types of pupils, from individual sports to team games. Emphasis is placed on enjoyment and the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The girls are taught many skills in a safe environment, so that they may perform any of these activities in their own recreational time. Every girl is assessed at the end of each activity for her Personal Sports Profile, for which she gets the opportunity to self-assess, in order to report on her ability, knowledge and understanding of each sport.

Winter Sports Summer Sports

HOCKEY TENNIS

NETBALL ATHLETICS

BADMINTON CRICKET

BASKETBALL ROUNDERS

VOLLEYBALL FOOTBALL

TAG RUGBY

INDOOR ATHLETICS

INDOOR TENNIS (SHORT)

SWIMMING

HEALTH RELATED FITNESS

DANCE (National & Contemporary)

GYMNASTICS (Educational & Vaulting)

Key Stage 4 and 6th Form Games

In Year 11 the girls get a double period of P.E. partenered with P.S.E. and a triple period of Games per week. By now the girls have been taught the skills required and so more emphasis is placed on playing the game and trying out different tactics, as well as doing more work on Health Related Fitness and learning how to make up their own fitness programmes. The school fitness suite has been refurbished thanks to the Old Armachians Society, to be used by all pupils in P.E. time. The girls can now enjoy using the machines and weights, which helps give them more confidence when using local leisure facilities. We also make good use of the superb ICT facilities in the Gymnasium, equiped with data projector, large screen and DVD player; great for working out to fitness and dance DVDs.

Year 12 to 14 Games is each Wednesday afternoon, where a wide variety of sports are on offer to the pupils. The local leisure centre at Orchard L.C. is a popular venue for some of the activities. Activities include Aerobics, Yoga, Swimming, Badminton, Fitness Room, Hockey, Recreational Games, Winter Tennis and Squash.

  G.C.S.E. P.E.

The G.C.S.E. P.E. programme was introduced to the school for the first time in 2002, following the C.C.E.A. (N.Ireland Board) syllabus, with a current pass rate A-C grade of 100%. It is a two-year course starting in Year 11, in which the pupils have two Theory classes and two Practical classes per week. The weighting for the final assessment is 50% Practical, 30% Theory and 20% Oral, discussing a Personal Exercise/Acivity Profile that they have spent a number of weeks preparing. (The GCSE syllabus will be updated for Year 11 pupils starting in 2009).

The subject is taught as a mixed class, in which they study topics such as, how the human body works, training methods, the history of sport, drugs in sport and sport in the community. The practical activities will be looked at in greater detail than K.S.3 and involves more work on discussion and learning how to analyse each other’s performances. The pupils will get the opportunity to teach each other, under the guidance of the P.E. professional. The main sports on offer are Hockey, Rugby, Basketball, Volleyball, Tennis, Athletics and Badminton, depending on the strengths of the group, with opportunities to be assessed on other sports they may specialise in outside school time.

  AS-LEVEL P.E.

AS LevelPE was introduced to the school for the first time in 2006, and A2 in 2007, using the AQA syllabus. The course is taught in three sections:- Physiology, Sociology and Practical. There is more information about AS and A2 Level PE on the school website.

 Extra-Curricular Sports

There is a good range of sports on offer for girls throughout the year, with many of the sports offering an opportunity to compete against other schools around N.Ireland.

Sports on Offer:

HOCKEY

NETBALL

DANCE

BADMINTON

ATHLETICS

TENNIS

CROSS-COUNTRY

TAG RUGBY