Managing behaviour effectively in primary Physical Education (PE) lessons is crucial for creating an environment conducive to learning, safety, and enjoyment. Knowing how to manage young pupils effectively is essential in an era where primary PE plays a pivotal role in children's development. This blog will explore top techniques for managing behaviour while keeping your PE lessons active and engaging.

Why behaviour management in primary PE matters

Behaviour management in primary PE lessons goes beyond discipline; it enhances the pupils' overall educational experience. It helps maintain order, prevents injuries, and promotes inclusivity. Educators can dedicate more time to teaching and nurturing essential physical and social skills with well-managed classes.

Top techniques for managing behaviour in Primary PE

1. Set clear expectations

Establishing clear rules and expectations at the beginning of the school year is fundamental. Effective behaviour management in primary PE starts with...

Are you a sports coach looking to create a supportive environment for every pupil? The new Behaviour Management course from Aspire:ED is here to help you empower your coaching techniques and positively impact your pupils' lives.

As a coach, you understand the importance of creating an inclusive and supportive environment for all children. PE, school sports, and physical activity enhance physical and mental well-being and teach valuable life skills. However, children come from different backgrounds and possess varying behavioural challenges, which can pose a challenge for coaches in primary schools.

To help you navigate these challenges, we've compiled some top tips for behaviour management.

1. Reinforce positive behaviour even when you're not there: As a sports coach, it's essential to consistently reinforce positive behaviour, even when you're not physically present. We understand that periodic visits to primary schools can pose challenges in effectively managing behaviour....

For most people, professional development means building new skills, enhancing performance and unlocking opportunities. For teachers and coaches, it means all those things and more.  

Because when you’re boosting children’s physical and mental health, expanding your knowledge base doesn’t just benefit you. It gives pupils a better start in life.  

According to Sport England, physically literate children are more likely to be active for the long term – but more than half of children aged five to 15 in England aren’t doing the recommended daily amount of exercise. 

For many pupils, school provides the mainstay of their physical activity. It’s where they learn Fundamental Movement Skills – from balancing to throwing a ball – that blossom into sporting talents and vital life tools like teamwork and taking part. It’s also where they discover the power of play.  

As an educator, the wider your...

It’s part of the national curriculum, boosts physical and mental health, and is both a life and a lifesaving skill.

And yet 1 in 4 children leave school unable to swim.

Primary schools are faced with a multitude of challenges when it comes to delivering swimming and water safety lessons. Funding, teacher training, curriculum pressures, facility access, just to name a few.

The fear is, if action isn’t taken, that 1 in 4 could rise to 6 in 10 children by 2025.

Speedo’s Swim United campaign is calling on the Government to invest in primary school swimming to affect real change.

And we too must unite to take action, to do everything we can to ensure every child has the opportunity to learn to swim.

Which is why we’re delighted to announce that Ashley Jones, Water Safety and Drowning Prevention Manager for Swim England, will be joining us at The Active Primary Schools Conference to deliver a keynote speech.

Ashley is responsible for supporting school...

This week on the podcast we welcome United Learning’s Head of Sport Shaun Dowling. 

Who is Shaun Dowling?

Shaun is Head of Sport at United Learning, a national group of primary, secondary and all-through schools across the state and independent sectors. As Head of Sport, Shaun supports Heads of PE and Directors of Sport in further improving the quality of their PE curriculum, school sport programmes and physical activity provision; Shaun ensures they’re using the power of sport to assist young people with their wider educational development.

Shaun is a former Head of PE and Director of Specialism, having progressed to Deputy Headship in two specialist sports colleges. 

Having trained at the West Sussex Institute of Higher Education, Shaun later gained his MA(Ed) from Southampton University. He achieved his NPQH before the opportunity arose to undertake a national role in the education team at the Youth Sport Trust (YST). 

Shaun’s extensive...