A recent tweet from a PE colleague requesting ideas on delivering apparatus activities in Year 9 Gymnastics has inspired me to share some thoughts that can be applied across Key Stages 1 – 3. On a daily basis, I see images and hear stories of classes of pupils lined up to take turns at doing the same dictated skill on a piece of apparatus such as walking along a bench in Primary PE or being fully supported through a handspring vault in Secondary PE (often in lieu of pupils’ physical readiness). Personally, I feel that this approach to delivering apparatus activities only works to minimise the extent of pupils’ engagement, learning and creativity and my heart sinks every time I see this exemplified as high quality Physical Education. Accordingly, I wanted to offer ideas on an alternative and more educational approach to involving apparatus in the delivery of curriculum Gymnastics.
 
Before getting to the point, it’s important to note that I don’t wish to use this post to delve into the safe handling and layout of Gymnastics apparatus as guidance in this area is given in afPE’s “Safe Practice in PE, School Sport and Physical Activity” 2016 (soon to be 2020) publication. I will say, however, that it is encouraged that Gymnastics apparatus is used for the purpose it was designed. For me though, this doesn’t translate into only using boxes for vaulting, beams for balancing and wall bars for climbing etc. but more that apparatus must be set up in a way that promotes safe exploration. As an example and food for thought in this area, I would question whether turning a bench upside down to challenge the more physically able with a narrower surface area on which to balance is a safe or appropriate way to use the equipment in relation to it’s design.
 
Throughout my coaching, teaching, teacher training and writing on the topic of Educational Gymnastics, I advocate the use of Gymnastics/movement themes or cross-curricular topics to promote inclusivity and stimulate creative development of movement vocabulary in curricular and extra-curricular Gymnastics. Having created and developed floor work related to a theme or topic in a curriculum unit’s introductory lessons, pupils can be challenged to adapt those floor skills to involve low/small items of apparatus such as benches, floor beams, low agility tables and box tops. Thereafter, high/large apparatus such as full size boxes, high agility tables, frames and fixed apparatus along with any attachments like ladders or bars can be introduced. To facilitate learning, it’s important that teachers consider which apparatus items available to them will best promote pupils’ exploration in relation to each unit theme or topic as part of the planning process.
 
To use the Cambridgeshire SOW for PE Year 2 Ball, Tall and Wall Gymnastics unit as a practical example, through a balance of differentiated whole class skill development activities and creative exploration, pupils spend the initial lessons building a movement vocabulary of static and moving actions relevant to their individual physical ability showing tuck, straight and wide shapes on the floor. This reaches a point where pupils are in a position to each select (and potentially link) their favourite ball, tall and wall shape action from a wider repertoire of skills they can now perform with good quality. On introducing the apparatus, pupils are then invited to work in free flow around the layout to investigate how they can involve each piece of equipment in the performance of their selected ball, tall and wall shape action. To encourage a variety of responses, teachers can input or, better still, guide the discovery of key words such as through, under, over, across, obstacle, hang, around, against, swing, climb, on (whole or part body), along, mount, dismount (the list of potential key words is infinitely long and pupils can be challenged to add to it but it’s also important to note that there may be occasions where key words need to be carefully selected by the teacher in order to maintain a safe environment and a focus on the unit of work theme). Once pupils have found a range of responses, they can link their favourite way of involving the apparatus in the performance of their ball, tall and wall shape actions into a sequence. The most effective sequences will not be those that incorporate the most complex apparatus skills but more those that demonstrate involvement of a range of apparatus in a variety of ways. For example, a pupil who performs a lying straight shape ON a bench followed by a straddle shape sitting AGAINST a wall bar finishing with a bunny hop OVER a low agility table should be seen as functioning at a high level when it comes to apparatus exploration despite including relatively basic actions throughout. 
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Apparatus exploration doesn’t have to stop with pupils adapting skills they’ve previously created and/or accomplished on the floor – the apparatus itself may also stimulate further exploration, creativity and discussion around a certain theme or topic. In our Year 2 Ball, Tall and Wall unit, for example, maybe the introduction of apparatus will inspire pupils to discover new tuck, straight and wide shape actions that couldn’t be performed on just the floor. Moving onto a KS2 example, pupils exploring the Cambridgeshire SOW for PE Year 4 Principles of Balance unit learn and apply the knowledge that balances are easier to hold if they have many contact points, a large surface area and a low centre of gravity to develop still positions they can control on the floor. They then explore adapting those skills to involve a variety of apparatus but, furthermore, also discuss and identify how the way in which they’ve involved each item of apparatus alters those three Principles of Balance and, therefore, their stability.
 
To also share a late KS3 example, a group of Secondary PE SCITT trainees I recently worked with decided to develop a series of practical activities around the idea of introducing the Components of Fitness through a Gymnastics unit. As part of this, the group considered how each item of apparatus available to us at the time could be used to develop pupils’ understanding and physical ability in relation to each Component of Fitness. This led to the creation of a sequence covering a range of their most effective ideas including the performance of standing straddle shapes with one leg raised on a box top so as to challenge/extend their flexibility and front support positions performed with either the hands or feet raised onto a bench to lessen or increase the muscular strength required to hold the shape according to each individual’s physical ability.
 
By exploring the involvement of apparatus from a cross-curricular perspective like in the examples given, teachers can focus success criteria around the pupils’ creativity and/or ability to demonstrate understanding of the theme or topic. In this way, the importance placed on skill complexity is minimised and pupils of all physical abilities have equal access to succeed in Gymnastics lessons involving apparatus. Many of my favourite moments in my 30+ years of Gymnastics delivery have occurred when a child has involved a piece of apparatus in a way that I have not seen before, typically creating an original Gymnastics action in the process. Undoubtedly, therefore, there is a considerable amount of learning and enjoyment to be missed by both the teacher and pupils in Gymnastics lessons where the delivery dictates the apparatus skills and way in which the apparatus is used. If this is an approach you might be used to taking in your delivery of Gymnastics apparatus work, I encourage you to explore the more cross-curricular and creative route going forward and am ready and waiting to hear of any highlights you encounter as a result.

Units of work on ‘Flight’ seem to be a stalwart of the KS3 PE curriculum but I have to confess to having an aversion to this as a Gymnastics topic. Through this Blog post, I will endeavor to explain why and also make some suggestions for alternative approaches.
 
During my few years as a PE teacher, I found myself delivering Gymnastics units of work around the topic of flight and always stumbled across the same problem – the majority of KS3 students did not have a wide enough range of proficient Gymnastics movement vocabulary to safely incorporate moments of flight. For example, how many students can perform a forward roll with the technical accuracy required to show a flighted entry, a cartwheel with the efficiency to progress onto a round off or a handstand with the expertise to hop on their hands? It leaves me wondering how safe and inclusive our KS3 Gymnastics provision generally is and makes me question how PE departments actually define the term ‘Flight’.
 
As a starting point for this post, I therefore researched examples of KS3 Flight units of work and found that the content overwhelmingly centres upon vaulting activities with the common approach of teaching (quite complex) specific/named vaults to whole classes. Generally, speaking, there is little evidence of regard for progressions to accommodate/engage all abilities or thought about breaking the technique of vaulting down into it’s many phases.
 
Now, those of you who follow my work will know I tend to encourage teachers to steer away from skill driven Gymnastics in favour of a creative/explorative approach. Vaulting, however, is a Gymnastics discipline through which I do feel it’s relevant, accessible, valuable and worthwhile to develop KS3 students’ accurate replication. To ensure it is safe and inclusive though, vaulting technique must be broken down into it’s 7 phases – run up, hurdle step, take off, first flight, push from the vault, second flight and landing. All these phases can be introduced to students without a vault in place and, more significantly, apply to all levels of vaulting technique.
 
In making the improvement and accurate replication of the 7 phases the basis of success and assessment in a vaulting unit of work, every student has equal access to achieve. For example, one student could choose to improve the 7 phases of a squat on and straight jump off vault whilst another targets long flight. The most successful students will therefore be those who demonstrate the most improvement and accurate technique in the performance of an ability relevant vault rather than those who perform the most complex vault by the end of the unit. Accordingly, once the teacher has introduced/established the 7 phases of vaulting early in the unit, the focus should turn to developing students’ application and implementation of a range of evaluation and target setting techniques so they can work with increasing independence to progress their chosen vaults.
 
So, as I see it, a unit of work truly based on the topic of ‘Flight’ can only be effectively delivered to a PE class of physically higher ability students who can safely incorporate moments of flight into well-established floor skills that can then be developed into sequences and adapted to involve apparatus and/or others. As ability setting is rare in PE and very much against my personal ethos, however, I’d alternatively suggest PE departments rethink flight based units of work. Should these be Jump and Land units that allow only the physically ready to explore other ways in which moments of flight can be incorporated into Gymnastics actions? Otherwise, maybe stick with a vaulting focus and call the unit ‘Vaulting’ or, better still, come at it from an angle that allows students to be educated beyond the Gymnastics itself. For example, could you deliver a Sport Education vaulting unit so as to explore and develop different roles within a more competitive Gymnastics environment or how about developing a Gymnastics unit of work called ‘Motion’ that incorporates the 7 phases of vaulting as a means to study Newton’s Laws of motion?
 
All in all, the purpose of this Blog post is to get readers thinking about how they can turn flight based units of work into something safer, richer and more inclusive so I’d be very interested to hear any thoughts you have on this and ideas that any of you subsequently develop and implement in practice.

​It’s time for a confession – in the first few years of advising teachers and delivering Gymnastics CPD, I used to dread people asking for original warm up ideas as I felt I lacked imagination in my own practice - I typically rotated the same few pulse raising activities I’d picked up along the way. I don’t think reliance on a small bank of ideas is uncommon, however, and a recent tweet from a PE deliverer which asked for help in expanding their range of warm up activities inspired me to share how I unlocked a plethora of new ideas.
 
I felt I had a breakthrough in this area when I started to plan Gymnastics lessons and club sessions from the perspective of a ‘High quality PE lesson structure’. The structure has four not particularly groundbreaking parts – warm up, key task, development of the key task and cool down. It was the ethos underpinning the structure, however, that EVERY part of EVERY lesson progresses pupils towards the desired lesson outcome that has significantly influenced my practice. Essentially, it has progressed my thinking to see the warm up as a major opportunity to maximise learning in addition to a necessary ten-minute episode to physically prepare pupils for safe participation. In essence, I now seek inspiration for each session’s pulse raising activity by identifying an aspect of the lesson objective I can introduce through the opening physical task. To bring this to life, I’ll detail the warm up activities I designed in response to the session outcomes for four of my spring term KS2 Gymnastics Club sessions.
 
Example warm up 1:
 
LO – Explore Gymnastics actions to represent hour and minute hand positions for various times on a clock face.
 
Gymnasts worked in pairs at a large hoop placed flat on the floor, travelling around it in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction in response to commands. Once established, time commands were added upon which pairs had to show that time on their clock (hoop) by freezing at the position of the (imaginary) numbers to which the hour and minute hands would point. For example, on hearing 6 O’clock, a gymnast in each pair would freeze at the top of the hoop to represent that the minute hand would point to the twelve and the other gymnast would freeze at the bottom to represent that the hour hand would point to the six.
 
Example warm up 2:
 
LO – Work with a partner to create and negotiate obstacles using Gymnastics actions.
 
In pairs, gymnasts numbered themselves ‘1’ and ‘2’ before travelling independently and freely around the hall. On hearing a ‘1’ command, all the number ‘1’ gymnasts lay on their back leaving their partner to locate and safely negotiate them by going around or over the shape before both continuing to travel independently. The roles reversed on giving the ‘2’ command. The obstacle shape was then progressed to front support meaning the negotiator could now also choose to travel under the obstacle. Finally, gymnasts created their own basic and comfortable to hold obstacle shapes for their partner to find and negotiate.
 
Example warm up 3:
 
LO – Demonstrate ‘Getting On’ qualities whilst participating in and creating a range of Gymnastics activities.
 
In explanation of the qualities, I watched an episode of ‘Hey Duggee’ with my son unknowing that it would inspire the content for my next Gymnastics Club session. It was called ‘Getting On badges’ and started with the ‘Squirrels’ (think Scouts) squabbling so Duggee (think Scout leader) teaches them five qualities they then show to earn their badge. The qualities I took forward for exploration were trust, share, teamwork, communication and patience.
 
The warm up involved three groups of gymnasts rotating around stations of co-operative pulse raising activities specifically designed to require them to draw upon the qualities:
 
1 = Team link shuttle run – the first gymnast in the group completes a shuttle run and then
‘picks up’ the next gymnast to join them for the second shuttle run by linking arms at the elbows. This continues until the whole group has been picked up and then each gymnast is ‘dropped off’ in the order they joined the shuttle run.
 
2 = Hoop star jump – gymnasts worked in pairs with one hoop between them to come up with ways of safely performing 10 star jumps whilst both maintaining contact with the hoop.
 
3 = Canon skipping – the first gymnast started a series of 15 skips with the next starting their 15 skips in time with the first gymnast’s fourth skip. This pattern continued down the line until all gymnasts had completed 15 skips. The whole team, however, had to start again (from the other end of the line) every time a gymnast stopped part way through their 15 skips.
 
After the warm up, gymnasts thought about how each activity asked them to draw upon the ‘Getting On’ qualities e.g. patience to succeed in the canon skip, communication of ideas to star jump in pairs involving a hoop and the teamwork it takes to shuttle run at a controlled group pace. The gymnasts took their increased understanding forward to design their own Gymnastics activities for which success depended on drawing upon one of those qualities.
 
Example warm up 4:
 
A mentor of mine once gave the opinion that warm up ‘games’ have no place in Gymnastics. I understand to a point but, for me, they can provide valuable learning opportunities as long as they’re adapted to have meaning relative to each lesson objective. For example…
 
LO – Perform increasingly complex Gymnastics actions showing the straddle shape with consistently good technique.
 
‘Traffic Lights’ with the following commands and responses:
 
Green = jog
Red = straddle sit
Traffic jam = straddle sit one behind the other in a line down the hall
Tunnel = stand opposite another gymnast and fold to straddle stand linking at the arms to create a tunnel
Lane closed = sit in straddle back to back with another gymnast so as to create an ‘X’ with your legs.
 
N.B. In the following session, we continued to explore the straddle shape and so repeated our ‘Traffic Lights’ warm up incorporating straddle shape based command and response ideas from the gymnasts e.g. a gymnast came up with sitting in straddle facing another gymnast to create a (sort of) circle as a response to ‘Roundabout’.
 
In my work, I often come across PE colleagues asking one another, ‘What’s your favourite warm up?’ thus suggesting it’s common practice for PE deliverers to frequently roll out their favourite pulse raising activities with a disregard for the aim of each lesson. Perhaps a better question would be, ‘What is the best warm up idea you’ve developed to initiate significant learning in relation to a lesson objective?’ With increasing time constraints seemingly being placed on the PE curriculum, deliverers must maximise the potential of every minute they have with classes – starting with the warm up. I feel that I really started to achieve this when I began to identify how learning in relation to the lesson objective could be initiated through the warm up. Furthermore, I’ve found it’s helped me tap into a creative side that I’d never have previously credited myself with. As such, I no longer dread being asked about warm up ideas and am continuously excited to see what I’ll come up with next. I know gymnasts who have left community clubs because they find the warm up ‘boring’ so also believe that an approach such as this which generates varied warm up activities must work to promote participants’ enjoyment and therefore motivation to participate longer term.
 
So, over to you – ‘What is the best warm up idea you’ve developed to initiate significant learning in relation to a lesson objective?’ 

​In my role as an Educational Gymnastics Consultant, I frequently work with teachers who feel they lack the subject knowledge to deliver high quality Gymnastics in PE lessons. As such, it’s no surprise I often get asked to recommend resources that best support the delivery of Curriculum Gymnastics with most teachers particularly wanting access to a range of skill based information. As it happens, I do have an opinion on the best resource detailing ‘recognised’ Gymnastics actions but feel it’s important to set a context for what I believe to be the most inclusive approach to teaching Educational Gymnastics before identifying the resource and explaining how teachers can use it to best effect.  
 
As I see it, the majority of curriculum lessons place too much emphasis on pupils accomplishing ‘recognised’ Gymnastics actions. This is possibly born out of the fact that success in Artistic Gymnastics, the discipline most commonly featured on TV, is reliant on technically accurate execution of a range of highly and increasingly complex skills. In the classroom, however, a focus on skill based learning is only likely to entice the more physically able whilst potentially discouraging the majority from wanting to participate longer term in a widely beneficial sport. Accordingly, I implore those delivering Educational Gymnastics to promote mastery through a breadth of theme based learning opportunities that pupils can access at their own ability level rather than focusing on a depth of learning through skill acquisition.
 
Inspiration for Gymnastics theme based topics can come from a variety of sources. For example, categories of Gymnastics actions e.g. rotation, balance, weight on hands etc. work well as a starting point for learning at KS1 and KS2 with Gymnastics disciplines such as Acrobatics Gymnastics providing a basis for learning at KS3. To encourage a complete move away from a skill based emphasis, however, perhaps look to different aspects of school life for stimulus e.g. cross-curricular links, school values and termly/whole school topics. My son’s current whole school topic is based on bridges and the slide show of world famous bridges playing on repeat throughout a recent ‘making morning’ just resulted in my brain conjuring up a range of Gymnastics activities through which pupils could use their bodies to explore those and their own bridge shapes and structures.
 
So, with all that said, my answer to the question posed by this Blog post title is the British Gymnastics Core Proficiency Award Scheme Resource Pack (www.british-gymnastics.org/shop/product/core-proficiency/core-proficiency-resource-pack/). Whilst produced to support those delivering the British Gymnastics badges (which might have a place in the extra-curricular setting) the pack content can alternatively be used to as a source of movement vocabulary for a wide range of Curriculum Gymnastics themes with 80 skills differentiated across 8 complexity levels. So as not to seem like I’m contradicting myself, however, the main point to instigate effective use of this resource is that the 80 skills presented must be seen as nothing more than a starting point to inspire pupils to create an infinite range of their own ability relevant Gymnastics movement vocabulary.
 
I’ll provide a practical example based on the theme of wide shape actions to demonstrate how to use the Core Proficiency Resource Pack effectively as this topic is fresh on my mind following a recent extra-curricular session. Taking the skill based approach to this topic, a teacher would highly likely identify a selection of wide shape actions from the award scheme e.g. level 8 straddle sit, level 5 T balance, level 3 cartwheel and level 1 straddled half lever to teach to a whole class exactly as modeled on the wall charts/CD Rom and exactly as detailed on the relevant work cards with pupils then possibly linking 2 – 3 of those skills into a sequence. The theme based thinking teacher, on the other hand, might start by asking pupils to identify and try ability relevant wide shape actions from the wall charts incorporating use of the work cards to facilitate teaching point and performance quality related feedback.
 
To then extend the learning beyond ‘recognised’ skills, the theme based thinking teacher would next focus pupils to think further along the topic lines to create original wide shape movement vocabulary. For example, pupils could be challenged to identify non wide shape ability relevant actions from the wall charts in order that they can explore adapting them into wide shape actions. Take the level 6 v-sit which, performed in it’s technically accurate format, shows piked legs with as closed a hip angle as the pupil’s flexibility allows. Why not, however, turn it into a wide shape action by increasing the various angles to cover as much of the mat surface area (and space above it) as possible? Posed with this example challenge in Gymnastics club, my gymnasts worked out they could open the hip angle as much as their individual core strength allowed, straddle their legs as much as flexibility allowed and place their hands far away and apart on the area of mat behind. The before and after photos above demonstrate how performance quality remains significant even when the emphasis on accurate skill replication is reduced.
 
Having used the v-sit example to establish a definition for ‘wide’ in the context of Gymnastics actions i.e. actions that cover the majority of the mat width and/or length (or area above it), the extra-curricular gymnasts began to identify their own ability relevant actions to explore adapting into wide shapes. They worked in pairs rotating between the roles of performer and observer with the observer providing feedback to help the performer further increase the area each adapted action covered. Pictured above are a few of the resulting static wide shapes e.g. a wide arch shape, a widened/flattened bridge and a headstand showing a straddled leg position. Less easy to capture were the moving wide shape actions that the gymnasts created but they too were in abundance.
 
The most creatively minded gymnasts (often the least experienced gymnasts) eventually stepped away from using the Core Proficiency Resource Pack wall charts having gained the confidence to devise completely original wide shape actions through exploration of placing different body parts as wide apart on the mat as possible. It’s fair to say many of the resulting actions (examples pictured above) would have served the gymnasts well in a game of Twister!
 
The extra-curricular session providing the practical examples in this Blog post led to gymnasts linking a range of their static and travelling wide shape actions into sequences but just imagine the diversity of responses compared to the lesson in which the skill based approach focused delivery on whole class accurate replication of a minimal selection of wide shape actions. Not only does the theme based approach cultivate a plethora of creative Gymnastics movement vocabulary that won’t ever feature in a purchasable resource, it also discretely develops pupils’ all round fitness to a point where the more complex ‘recognised’ skills begin to develop of their own accord. In this way, teachers are relieved of the responsibility to enter lessons with a list/knowledge of skills to cover and worry of how to include those pupils that aren’t physically ready or confident to perform those skills. Moreover, as pupil success is dependent on reflecting understanding of a theme rather than physical ability, all pupils have equal access to a positive outcome and experience of Gymnastics!
 
Like in many of my previous Blogs, the practical activities detailed here are solely based on one theme. The key message, however, is that the presented method of using the British Gymnastics Core Proficiency Award Scheme Resource Pack (or other purchasable Gymnastics resource) as a means to tap into pupils’ own creative abilities is transferable to generate movement vocabulary related to any lesson/unit theme. Ultimately, therefore, the most effective and freely available resource to support the teaching of Educational Gymnastics is actually the pupils’ own imagination which is best fuelled by a theme based teaching approach!

The Rio Olympics has undoubtedly been an outstanding time for British Gymnastics and the impact that 7 medals and new superstars will have on the sport will be huge. At a grass roots level, however, waiting lists for community clubs always grow after each Olympics regardless of GB success and clubs are not typically in a position to respond immediately to expand their coaching team, space, class sizes and/or time allocation. The simple reality is, therefore, that the influx of budding new wannabe gymnasts will largely struggle to find a means by which to take up the sport whilst interest is at its peak. Accordingly, I send out a plea to schools and teachers to appreciate and maximise the opportunity that they have to embrace, accommodate and nurture the current wide spread enthusiasm for the sport!
 
Many educators reading this Blog will believe that this plea is easier said than answered but I continue to be passionate about sharing the message that every teacher, whether they realise it or not, has the ability to plan and deliver outstanding Educational Gymnastics both in the curriculum and as an extra-curricular activity. Remember that, for a multitude of reasons, very few pupils participating in Gymnastics will fully follow in the footsteps of Max Whitlock and become the next British Olympic Champion. As Shannon Miller (7x Olympic Gymnastics medalist for USA) recently said, "PE is not about creating world-class athletes; it is about creating incredible human beings." Schools, therefore, need not feel pressure to offer a Gymnastics programme which focuses on the technical skill development aspect of the sport. Alternatively, schools should aim to design and deliver schemes and units of work which appeal to, enable and inspire the majority with outcomes that prioritise wider learning, fitness and well-being over and above accomplishment of the sport itself.
 
There are a number of ways in which teachers can use Gymnastics Activities as a means to promote wider learning but the specific purpose of this Blog post is to offer some ideas as to how schools can explore cross-curricular links as a starting point to inspire Gymnastics lesson material. By approaching the designing of a Core Task (end product of a unit of work) from this alternative angle, teachers can develop Gymnastics plans based upon subject knowledge that they can be more confident to deliver and which are more relevant to all pupils.
 
The first example is inspired by the fact that the teaching team at my son’s Infant School map the curriculum learning under the umbrella of termly whole school topics. During the last academic year, for example, his learning experiences have been presented through the topics of ‘Towers, tunnels and turrets’, ‘Mission skyline’ and ‘The ugly bug Olympics’. For me, each of those topic titles immediately conjures up a wide variety of Gymnastics Core Task possibilities and potential lesson material. Pupils could explore shapes and balances based on the key words of towers, tunnels and turrets and then work on linking them together into short movement phrases. Similarly, ‘Mission skyline’ evokes the possibility of developing Gymnastics vocabulary based on take-off, flight, landing and reaching for the stars whilst pupils could explore methods of travelling like spiders, caterpillars, worms etc. through “The ugly bug Olympics’ theme. If your Primary School also presents learning through identified whole school topics, can you too consider how the termly themes could inform the way in which you deliver the PE curriculum through Gymnastics and other sporting activities?
 
Teachers can also look to the ‘School Values’ for inspiration when designing Gymnastics units of work. To provide a context in this case, I’ll use the example of my daughter’s Junior school where the six school values (kindness, responsibility, respect, honesty, resilience and ambition) are identified and defined through displays which surround the school hall. Considering this is the space in which Gymnastics lessons take place, there is significant opportunity here to use the ‘School Values’ as a stimulus to design Core Tasks with successful responses influenced by pupils understanding, application and demonstration of one or two values. Selecting ‘responsibility’ as an example stimulus for planning a Gymnastics unit, pupils could work in the same small groups across all lessons to compose and perform a group sequence which is developed according to identified individual strengths. Early lessons in the unit could consider what it takes to create and perform an effective sequence as well as what it means to be responsible and/or have a responsibility. Combining the learning from both discussions, group members could then allocate one another with relevant individual responsibilities to inform the creation and performance of a group sequence. For example, is there a group member with a good memory who could lead the sequence order and timing from the front or is there a group member who attends a Gymnastics club out of school that could suggest ability appropriate actions to determine the movement content of the sequence or is there someone who has a positive way with words that could take on the role of stepping out to observe individual and whole group performances to tactfully provide feedback/improvement points? At the end of the unit, pupils could reflect on, talk or write about their allocated responsibility and the resulting contribution they made to the final group composition/performance. With all that in mind, when you consider that responsibility is just one example school value, think of the scope for accessible Gymnastics lesson material that all six (or more) values could generate!
 
My final and most obvious suggestion for seeking cross-curricular inspiration is to identify opportunities to introduce or re-enforce aspects of other subject curricular through Gymnastics Activities. The possibilities in relation to this are endless so I shall merely scratch the surface of putting this suggestion into context by sharing the content of one particularly successful extra-curricular session that I led during the summer term. The aim of the session was to create and perform stable pair weight-taking shapes. For the pulse raising and warm up phrase activities, I deliberately selected actions which allowed me to focus the feedback and improvement points on showing clear and precise 90° angles in various body shapes. For example, we started off with marching on the spot so that I could direct gymnasts to focus on showing right angles at the hip and knee joint with every leg lift. Thereafter, gymnasts identified and focused on the right angles of each warm up action with increasing autonomy.
 
On completion of the warm up activities, I showed the gymnasts a whiteboard half filled with stick men images of the shapes we had so far explored with the right angles marked on in a different colour. I then initiated a discussion to gauge whether or not the gymnasts had any idea as to the purpose of focusing on right angles in a session that we hoped would result in stable pair weight-taking balances. To guide them to a conclusion, I asked them to think about their classroom space to identify objects that have many 90° angles, to consider the purpose of those objects and how the right angular design makes them effective in achieving that purpose. Having noted that tables and chairs have many right angles and that this design allows them to provide effective support, we translated that into the fact that pair weight-taking shapes will be most stable if built on a base position which has many right angles. With that information, the gymnasts then worked in pairs to come up with additional individual static shapes showing many right angles that could later form stable base positions for weight-taking balances. During this activity, gymnasts had access to the school Ipads in order to photograph one another’s shapes so as to provide feedback on the accuracy of the 90° angles and, once performing a new shape precisely, gymnasts were invited to add their idea to the whiteboard.
 
Before gymnasts were allowed to begin exploring using these shapes as base positions for pair balances, we considered all things safety associated with taking the weight of another person. To then ensure gymnasts were ready to explore pair weight-taking ideas freely, I led them through a few given examples including v-sit on box shape to emphasise how to safely distribute the ‘top’s’ weight over the contact points/right angles of the base position rather than placing all weight in the middle of the ‘base’s’ back. We also investigated the straddle sit position as a base position for the ‘top’ doing a front support with their hands on the floor and feet on the ‘base’s’ shoulders. When in the base position, gymnasts soon discovered the importance of keeping their back perpendicular to their legs i.e. showing a precise 90° angle at the hips and, much to the frustration of the more flexible gymnasts, the effectiveness of restricting the leg split in the straddle to a right angle to create the most stable base position.
 
With all that information on board, the pairs of gymnasts then worked freely and safely to create a plethora of original pair weight-taking shapes using the base position suggestions collected on the whiteboard as a starting point for developing ideas. Many pairs naturally focused on showing shapes with right angles in the ‘top’ position as well as the ‘base’ position, a few examples of which are shown in the pictures above. It was a shame to have to stop the gymnasts in full creative flow for the cool down and the maths based learning initiated/re-enforced during this session could definitely have been extended into multiple sessions or, in curriculum terms, a full unit of work based on exploring right, straight, acute and obtuse angles through the performance of Gymnastics actions. Considering this idea is based on only one small element of one other subject curriculum, I ask you to imagine the full extent of opportunity to seek cross-curricular inspiration for the planning of Gymnastics Activities when regarding the entire National Curriculum.
 
In detailing three cross-curricular routes through which to plan Gymnastics Activities, I am by no means presenting an exhaustive list of the opportunities that lie within this concept. The truth is that, as someone who no longer works in the heart of a school day in day out, I don’t have the best access to the full range of possibilities. It is those of you currently working at the business end of school life who have the best expertise to identify what inspiration lies within cross-curricular links to plan Gymnastics Activities relevant to your pupils’. Consequently, my second plea is to those that hold the PE and Sport Premium purse strings. Where funding is to be allocated to support the delivery of Gymnastics Activities, please be aware that Level 2 coaches are hard to find, expensive and approach delivery from a heavily skills based perspective which will appeal to the minority rather than majority of pupils. Accordingly, to maximise the wider learning opportunities that Educational Gymnastics has to offer, my advice would always be to use the funding to up-skill the teachers themselves in order that they have the ability to apply a basic Gymnastics skills base to their in depth knowledge of the school, its ethos/values and curriculum. Where opportunities to seek high quality Gymnastics professional development such as this are limited, however, consider allocating £36.34 of your PE and Sport Premium to purchasing the British Gymnastics Core Proficiency Resource Pack. With this resource, you’ll have immediate access to 80 Gymnastics skills presented across 10 themed and progressive badge strands detailed over 40 work cards which include preparation activities, safety considerations, teaching points and extra challenges. That combined with dedicated planning time in the hands of teachers who can think in cross-curriculum terms could be all that is needed for schools to fill a massive gap and successfully play a key post Olympics role in facilitating Gymnastics opportunities for the many young people inspired by what they witnessed in Rio. 

Towards the end of 2015, an afPE (Association for Physical Education) Tweet inviting PE practitioners to enter workshop submissions for the 2016 National Conference caught my eye. Having seen the promotional video from the 2015 conference, I was already looking forward to booking a delegate place at the 2016 event but decided to aim high by submitting two workshop ideas - ‘Every second counts – making the most of the warm up in Gymnastics lessons’ and ‘Mixing beanbags with Gymnastics – a recipe for increased learning and fitness’. It came as a very pleasant surprise in March when I received an email inviting me to deliver both and I rapidly set to work turning the submission outlines into full workshop plans.
 
As I arrived at St George’s Park on 5th July, I was struck by the venue and worked hard to remain casual when I realised we’d be in the company of sporting talent in the form of the England U19 Men’s football team (Norwich City were also in residence but my Ipswich Town supporting household wouldn’t forgive me for referencing them in a sentence about sporting talent). As a first time delegate who knew few others, I began to settle in by observing the ‘The PE and School Sport Street’ stands over lunch and soon found myself engaged in introductory conversations with other lone delegates.
 
A one to one clinic discussing the 2016 edition of ‘Safe Practice: in Physical Education, Sport and Physical Activity’ led nicely into my first Interactive Learning Session as a delegate - ‘To consult or not to consult’. This session proved to be a fantastic opportunity to meet other people striving to have a positive impact on Physical Education through the provision of a variety of professional learning opportunities. It was also a starting point for putting faces to names that I frequently come across in the afPE newsletter and PE Matters journal.
 
After a short break between the daytime and evening programme, the entertainment started with an opportunity to meet other first time delegates at pre dinner drinks and the three-course dinner that followed provided a further opportunity to meet new PE colleagues and network further. The meal culminated with the afPE Awards Presentation and, having had my nerves tested by the roaming magician asking to borrow my wedding ring, I soon decided it time to retire for the evening to get a much needed rest ahead of my two Interactive Learning Sessions the following day!
 
Battling with increasing excitement and nerves in equal measure, I inevitably woke early on Day 2 but, having used the opportunity to set up my workshop space ahead of time, found that I was able to relax (a bit) and enjoy the dance performance that opened the day’s programme. Of all the Keynotes that followed, Becky Adlington’s talk about her journey to Olympic Gold was undoubtedly the highlight and a wonderful slice of inspiration to lead me into delivering my sessions.
 
Up first was my ‘Every second counts – making the most of the warm up in Gymnastics lessons’ session. At the start, I was quick to point out that it was not my aim to fill the hour by sharing 20 or so Gymnastics warm up activity ideas because that approach would result in delegates taking those ideas back into their own settings where they would be repeated over and over with little consideration for each different lesson or unit outcome. Alternatively, my purpose was to share a process of structuring Curriculum Gymnastics into schemes, units and individual lessons which places emphasis on promoting learning opportunities throughout the warm up activities just as much as any other part of a Gymnastics lesson. We explored and discussed a few practical activity examples from the Cambridgeshire SOW for PE because I adopted the shared method of structuring learning when writing the 14 Gymnastics units of work it contains. As part of that, we debated the value in using warm up games like the ‘Bean Game’ or ‘Traffic Lights’ as pulse raising activities and also looked at the extensive learning and fitness benefits that result from including ‘Conditioning Phrases’ as part 2 of the warm up in every Gymnastics lesson. Following on from this, I introduced the ‘Principles of Progression in Gymnastics’ – my Educational Gymnastics specific model for planning progressive/differentiated learning.
 
With all that done, delegates had a brief chance to consider how the theory behind the session could have a positive impact back in their own setting by relating it to a recent or upcoming Gymnastics unit of work. This gave me an opportunity to check that delegates would leave the session with a clear understanding of the process thus allowing them to apply it thereafter to identify, develop and/or create an infinite range of lesson and unit outcome relevant Gymnastics warm activity ideas. The closing thoughts of the session addressed the session learning in the context of the conference title ‘Moving hearts, mind and muscles’ as well as identifying the fact that the planning process explored is not exclusive to Gymnastics i.e. delegates could apply the theory to plan a wide range of Physical Education activities and potentially other subjects across the curriculum too.
 
My second Interactive Learning Session, “Mixing beanbags with Gymnastics – a recipe for enhanced learning and increased fitness” followed after the lunch break. In this session, I similarly introduced the structure for planning learning in Gymnastics that I adopted when writing the Cambridgeshire SOW for PE Gymnastics units. This included presenting a high quality lesson structure which I then followed during the session as a means to demonstrate ways of incorporating the use of beanbags as a teaching tool to enhance a wide range of learning and fitness aspects across all 5 sections of a lesson. For example, in the warm up we identified how beanbags can be used as a means of non-verbal communication to enhance pupil focus and concentration whilst also promoting thinking skills and, in the key task activity, we explored a range of ways in which beanbags can be used to promote competition, accuracy of technique, clarity of shape, ease of rotation, body tension and extension etc. The flip chart photo above shows the full range of ways in which the delegates identified that the involvement of beanbags can have a positive impact on the pupils’ experience in Gymnastics across a lesson.
 
The purpose of this workshop was not to suggest that teachers should incorporate the use of beanbags into Gymnastics lessons 100% of the time. Instead, my aim was to show delegates how they could plan in the use of beanbags to enhance Gymnastics lesson activities specifically in relation to each lesson and unit outcome. For example, a lesson in which the teacher is aiming to develop pupils’ ability to hold balances for 3 seconds might incorporate the beanbags by getting pupils to rest and keep them on their heads (or other body parts) during their performance of balances. We did discuss, however, the benefits of having the box of beanbags handy at all times in order to be able to improvise by, for example, placing a beanbag between the feet of a pupil whose performance quality of an action would be improved if their feet were together. Again, as I wanted to be confident that the theory behind the session would have an impact on the delegates’ practice back in their own setting, I used the closing minutes of the session to encourage them to think of a recent or upcoming unit of work and how they could incorporate beanbags into those Gymnastics activities to enhance learning and/or fitness specifically in relation to the lesson/unit outcome. The concluding thoughts identified how beanbags could be used in Gymnastics lessons to move hearts, minds and muscles with specific reference to the ‘The difference Physical Education and School Sport makes to whole school improvement’ afPE poster (pictured above).
 
Despite some underlying nerves, I thoroughly enjoyed delivering both my Interactive Learning Sessions. The feedback at the close of each session was encouragingly positive and I felt particularly proud when one delegate later found me to say that she learned a lot despite working for many years as a PE Consultant with a specialism in Gymnastics! I confess to being a tad late to my final Interactive Learning Session which introduced the ‘This Girl Can!’  resources as I treated myself to a hot chocolate and a few minutes reflection during which I attempted to switch back into delegate mode.
 
The conference closed with a hugely entertaining talk by Andy Cope which centered upon recognising happiness in the here and now. The fact that I was able to return to the station in a taxi for four when I had arrived in a taxi for one was certainly a moment of happiness for me and I mean more as a representation of the opportunity I’d had to meet like-minded people than being able to share the fare although both were pleasing!
 
Now, a couple of weeks on, I am looking forward to potentially working with some of the PE colleagues I met at the conference over the next academic year. All in all, it was a fantastic event both from the perspective of a first time delegate and workshop leader. As such, I am very much looking forward to the afPE National Conference 2017 – whether I shall attend as a delegate, an Interactive Learning Session presenter or both remains to be seen but I am underway with scribbling down a few workshop submission ideas already!

​Today is International Handstand Day – a day when people photograph their handstand skills to share with and inspire others on social media. What strikes you when you scroll through #HandstandDay is the variety of people getting involved from the very young to centenarians and from the ‘never tried it before’ to elite athletes from a range of Gymnastics, dance, circus and aquatic disciplines. With no rules beyond the handstand theme, the occasion also encourages creativity through Gymnastics and my favourite examples so far have to be a handstand atop a golden postbox and an entire fire brigade watch performing handstands in unison in full uniform using the fire engine for support. All in all, this day pretty much encompasses everything I love about Gymnastics.
 
In my work this week, I have tried to embrace the International Handstand Day ethos and use it to inspire the content for my extra-curricular Gymnastics club. The session outcome for the gymnasts attending my after school club was to create group tableaus showing a range of handstand progressions/variations in an effort to demonstrate that, whilst very few can perform and hold a technically accurate handstand, there is an accessible level of Gymnastics which is achievable and beneficial for all.
 
Through the pulse raising warm up, we explored a variety of basic straight shape actions because this is the Gymnastics shape that underpins the full skill. The gymnasts then created their own warm up phrases incorporating a dish shape, a frog balance progression, a front support and a shoulder stand. These actions were chosen because they involve inversion, weight transfer and straight shapes whilst also testing/developing the gymnasts body tension and extension in preparation for performing handstand progressions and variations as the session developed.
 
During the main activity the gymnasts swapped between working on their ability to lunge and reach into the kick up action and testing their ability to support their own body weight whilst inverted by ‘moving toward handstand’ using increasingly high flat platform apparatus. With all the preparations explored, gymnasts were grouped into teams of 5 and allocated with a bench, a table and 4 mats per group. The teams were able to arrange their apparatus as they wished and were then tasked to create a Gymnastics tableau (scene) in which all 5 gymnasts demonstrated a different progression or variation of a handstand appropriate to their ability level with at least one gymnast involving an item of apparatus. Having identified that the key to success was to ensure each gymnast selected a progression/variation that they could hold for 3 seconds, the teams got to exploring ideas and it didn’t take long for them to devise successful answers to the task.
 
Among the pictures at the top of this Blog post, you will find the response that one group formed. The range of progressions shown start with a front support on an inclined bench, a 3 point inverted balance with one leg raised on the table top, a ‘moving toward handstand’ using apparatus, a full handstand on floor and a handstand shape variation in which the gymnast has flexed her legs at the knees and arched her back slightly to drop her feet onto the table top. As such, regardless of ability, each gymnast had successfully met the task of showing a handstand progression within a group handstand tableau – an idea which could be transferred to any Gymnastics skill, theme or concept.
 
On my British Gymnastics Award Scheme Coaching for Schools course yesterday, we also took the opportunity to look at how we can make handstand progressions/variations achievable for all pupils in the curriculum and extra-curricular setting. I use the phrase progressions/variations carefully as a means to express that a teacher or coach delivering Gymnastics in schools should never set the expectation of a whole group of pupils achieving a handstand in it’s purest technically correct form simultaneously within any one session. For some in a handstand themed session, the full extent of their success criteria might be to control a front support with feet on a raised platform for 3 seconds whilst a more physically able pupil's success criteria might be to perform a handstand variation such as showing a double stag leg shape in the held handstand position. With this and the International Handstand Day theme in mind, the teachers attending the Award Scheme course set to creating their own warm up phrases which they could take back into their setting to teach pupils in order to develop their body tension and extension as well as their strength and technique with a view to improving each pupil’s proficiency and confidence to perform a handstand progressions/variation applicable to their ability level. The photos above show elements of the phrase that one pair of candidates put together covering lunges, inversion and weight on hands ideas.
 
The end of today will mark the end of International Handstand Day for another year but it won’t mark the end of my effort and the effort of many others working in Physical Education and participatory Gymnastics to expose the ethos that this is a sport for everyone. I look forward to continuing to turn the reluctance with which many teachers approach the delivery of Gymnastics in schools into enthusiasm by sharing the message and demonstrating the fact that there is a skill level achievable (and therefore fun) for all but, in the meantime, I’ll be spending the rest of today enjoying the range of #HandstandDay contributions…

Today the summer edition of the PE journal “Physical Education Matters’ dropped onto my doormat. As a member of the Association for Physical Education this is not an unusual occurrence although I was particularly excited to receive this edition as it featured my article ‘A philosophy on teaching Gymnastics in Primary Schools’.
 
The article presents an ethos that I have developed over the course of the various teaching, coaching, mentoring, tutoring and consultancy roles I have undertaken during the past 18 years. The ethos is that high quality Gymnastics in Primary schools is not dependent on the delivery or achievement of any ‘recognised’ Gymnastics skills. By recognised Gymnastics skills, I mean those actions that immediately spring to most people’s minds when they visualise Gymnastics e.g. forward roll, backward roll, headstand, cartwheel and handstand.
 
Having presented the ethos, the article goes on to reflect upon the wording in the National Curriculum PE Programmes of Study before introducing a model for progression and differentiation that is specific to Educational Gymnastics. The picture accompanying the ‘Principles of Progression’ section shows 6 pupils performing 5 varied and differentiated versions of a v-sit involving wall bars in 3 different ways to demonstrate the range of movement vocabulary that can be generated as a result of exploring just a single basic Gymnastics action in depth.
 
Before reaching a conclusion, the article also addresses the wide spread lack of confidence among teachers to deliver Curriculum Gymnastics but also my belief that they are the best people for the job. Appreciating that training is therefore key to overcoming the resulting reluctance, the final section details my recommendations for the nature of Gymnastics professional learning that teachers should seek.
 
My purpose for writing the article was to express the huge potential for learning that exists in Curriculum Gymnastics. By recognising that potential and viewing skills acquisition as only a small part of it, achievement in and through Gymnastics becomes considerably more accessible to teachers and pupils alike.

​Gymnastics, as seen on TV, is very much presented as an individual sport. The fact that Great Britain came away from the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships with a Women’s team bronze medal and a Men’s team silver medal might begin to suggest otherwise but the reality is that the gymnasts making up those teams do not perform or compete any routines together and largely train apart in their own respective Gymnastics clubs. Although there are some tactics involved, the ‘team’ element of Artistic Gymnastics really boils down to the fact that the gymnast’s individual scores are combined. Gymnastics, however, comes in many more forms than the widely profiled Artistic Gymnastics and the British Gymnastics disciplines of Rhythmic Gymnastics, Aerobic Gymnastics, Trampoline Gymnastics, Acrobatic Gymnastics and TeamGym all entail activities and competition elements that involve pair and/or group performances. This means that effective teamwork is actually key to success in certain aspects of the sport and should, therefore, feature as a focus for development alongside skills etc. in the recreational Gymnastics club setting. Further to that, in the curricular and extra-curricular school setting, teachers can use Gymnastics activities as a means to promote and develop teamwork skills that all pupils, whether they intend to participate in the sport in the long term or not, can transfer to and utilise in everyday situations.
 
As Gymnastics isn’t the most obvious sport through which to develop aspects of teamwork, coaches and teachers have to work particularly hard to identify activity ideas that will challenge participants to work collaboratively, co-operate, communicate, problem solve, resolve conflict, identify roles and responsibilities etc. Accordingly, I hope to use my Blog page as a way to share a variety of teamwork based activity ideas as I come across/develop them starting with an idea that randomly popped into my head whilst doing my best to relax on a spa break! I knew I wanted to devise an extra-curricular session based on hoop work and, for some reason, the ‘buzzer game’ that often features as a school fete stall came to mind. It led me to wonder if gymnasts could successfully explore the idea of creating various ‘wire’ shapes with their bodies’ for others to guide a hoop along whilst trying to avoid making contact.
 
As soon as I was back to work, I set to making a plan in which this idea featured as the main activity and then had to wait patiently until the day I’d get to try it out. In practice, the gymnasts enjoyed it so much that I decided to ditch the development activity planned for the latter part of the session in favour of discovering and exploring a range of further learning opportunities and challenges inspired by the ‘buzzer game’ activity. This is the series of challenges that transpired during that session:
 
Challenge 1:
 
In pairs, swapping between the roles of performer and hoop controller, explore individual body shapes to come up with a range of ‘wire’ shapes along which the controller can successfully manoeuvre the hoop without making contact with the shape.
 
Example: Front support ‘wire’ shape with hoop starting around the feet and finishing around the hands (see photo 1 above).
 
Score a point for every new ‘wire’ shape along which the hoop is moved successfully.
 
​Challenge 2:
 
In pairs, swapping between the roles of performer and hoop controller, return to the individual ‘wire’ shapes along which you could not successfully move the hoop from one end to the other. Explore ways of adapting/changing those ‘wire’ shapes as the hoop is moved along to make an impossible ‘wire’ shape possible to negotiate successfully. The only rule is that the ‘wire’ shape is the same at the start and end of the hoop transfer.
 
Example: V-sit ‘wire’ shape adapted to a back support at the mid-point of the hoop transfer.
 
Score a point for every previously impossible ‘wire’ shape along which the hoop is now moved successfully.
 
Challenge 3:
 
In groups of 4, swapping between the roles of 2 performers and 2 hoop controllers, explore basic contact pair shapes in which both performers show the same shape to come up with a range of longer symmetrical ‘wire’ shapes along which the controllers can successfully manoeuvre the hoop without making contact with the shape.
N.B. The 2 controllers can either move the hoop together with one on each side of the shape or one can start the hoop transfer with the other taking over at the mid-point.
 
Example: The performers create a standing arch shape by touching palms above their heads with one performer standing in the hoop (see photo 2 above).
 
Score a point for every pair ‘wire’ shape along which the hoop is moved successfully.
 
Challenge 4:
 
In groups of 4, swapping between the roles of 2 performers and 2 hoop controllers, explore basic contact pair shapes in which both performers show a different shape to come up with a range of asymmetrical ‘wire’ shapes along which the controllers can successfully manoeuvre the hoop without making contact with the shape.
N.B. Group members can collaborate to adapt/change the shape as the hoop is moved along to increase the range of responses and chances of success as long as the shape is the same at the start and finish and the basic contact between performers is not broken.
 
Example: One performer shows a standing straight shape whilst holding the legs of the other performer who is showing a shoulder stand.
 
At the venue where this extra-curricular session occurred, I had access to three different sized sets of hoops. As such, I was able to develop a tactical element to the latter challenges. Gymnasts had the option to use a large hoop and score 1 point for a successful hoop manoeuvre, use a medium hoop and score 2 points or use a small hoop and score 3 points. This added to the decision-making element and also gave groups the opportunity to be successful with a challenging ‘wire’ shape or further challenge the hoop and body shape control by trying a previously successful ‘wire’ shape with a smaller hoop.
 
The fact that success across these four challenges depended on a combination of effective communication, collaboration, co-operation, the identification of roles and responsibilities according to individual strengths, decision making, problem solving and tactical thinking (not to mention a bit of creativity, ability to balance and overwhelming positive vibes from the gymnasts too) leads me to believe that it’s worth continuing to explore the full scope of teamwork skill development opportunities that lie within the ‘buzzer game’ alongside other routes for developing teamwork skills through Gymnastics activities. I look forward to sharing what I come up with in future Blogs but would also welcome hearing from coaches, teachers and PE colleagues about their exploration of the ‘buzzer game’ and any other Gymnastics activities that have the development of teamwork skills at their essence. 

In the Autumn term of 2015, I started taking on the lead coach role at my daughter's school Gymnastics club which had previously been run by coaches representing a local community club. Although it's always disappointing when gymnasts drop out, it wasn't really surprising that the odd gymnast decided not to continue with the after school club after experiencing just one of my very different styled sessions. Upon analysis, however, I noted that the minority who did leave were all gymnasts that were already accessing Gymnastics beyond the school provision within the community club setting. As such, they were all pupils who had already found their niche within the sport who also likely found my alternative session approach to be a bit of a shock to the system.    

For me, the priority for those delivering school based extra-curricular Gymnastics clubs should be to attract the pupils who would not typically seek to participate in the sport beyond their experiences in the curriculum. For example, only yesterday I received a tweet from a parent who's daughter was interested in signing up for the school club but felt concern that the extent of her past experience only amounted to 'PE and playground stuff' and that her height meant she wasn't naturally suited to Gymnastics. As far as I was concerned, the parent had just described the perfect candidate for the school club setting and I was enthused to encourage the parent to register her daughter as soon as possible. 

Considering, therefore, that my target audience for the school club setting is a group of pupils who aren't naturally suited to or confident in the Gymnastics environment, I place huge importance on my role to create a setting in which they have a positive experience of the sport. Accordingly, I have developed an ethos for extra-curricular Gymnastics which aims to strike a balance between skill development and accessing the wider learning opportunities that the sport has to offer through exploration of basic Gymnastics activities and challenges. As further explanation of this, many deliverers of school based clubs will design their sessions around the content of the entirely skill based British Gymnastics Core Proficiency Award Scheme. With 8 progressive levels to 'pass', however, it is an approach which favours the naturally talented whilst potentially discouraging the rest particularly as they inevitably reach a point at which they get 'stuck'. Don't get me wrong - there is plenty of value to be found in the British Gymnastics Award Scheme and my extra-curricular gymnasts do achieve their badges. My approach, however, is to discretely integrate the delivery of the badge scheme skills within the session content rather than use it as the driving force to structuring each session.

In an effort to bring my extra-curricular ethos and session style to life, I shall detail one particularly memorable session born out of the fact that the group of gymnasts I had at the time were a particularly enthusiastic and chatty bunch - I had barely started a set of instructions before they set to sharing ideas and also spent more than a desirable amount of time trying to attract their attention to finish each activity in preparation for the next explanation. The time came to decipher a way to quickly attract and maintain the gymnasts' attention throughout each set of instructions whilst also encouraging them to maximise the quality and quantity of exploration time during each activity. Accordingly, I tasked myself to plan a session that would require gymnasts to only respond to/ employ methods of non-verbal communication to successfully improve one another's ability to perform balances.

I grabbed the gymnasts' attention at the start of the session by revealing in turn a series of instruction cue cards which set the challenge and led the group into a command and response style pulse raising activity. To overcome the issue of not being able to give commands verbally, I held up red and green cards to indicate go and stop and then varied the way I held them as a means to inform the gymnasts as to whether to work on the spot or freely around the space and whether to work on a high, medium or low level. For the second part of the warm up, I demonstrated a warm up phrase combining a selection of basic balances/static shapes and then allocated pairs of gymnasts with a red and green card each. Taking it in turns to perform the phrase in their pairs, the observers used the red card to inform their performing partner each time they had established the correct position for each balance/shape and the green card to signal that they had held it for 3 counts and could move on to the next.   

​The main activity saw the gymnasts rotate around a balance activity circuit. At each station, I placed a red, yellow and green card and a sheet detailing a balance skill and an extension skill each with three main teaching points. Again, pairs worked together swapping between the roles of observer and performer. When observing, gymnasts used the coloured cards to tell their performer whether they were showing 1, 2 or all 3 of the teaching points and used the sheet to indicate which teaching points they needed to focus on during the next attempt. Once an observer held up the green card, the performer knew they had shown all three teaching points at once and were ready to attempt the extension version.

On completion of the circuit, I challenged each pair to create a short movement phrase by linking three of the balances they'd improved during the circuit activity. This time, it was down to the gymnasts to find their own ways in which to communicate ideas, order and perform the sequence without a single word spoken. To my amazement, every pair took to the challenge with relative ease and an array of balance based phrases were composed within minutes.

The gymnasts also devised their own methods of non-verbal communication in the cool down activity which saw them working in two large groups. Starting from standing in a circle formation, the gymnasts in each group were tasked to take it in turns to adopt a basic gymnastics shape holding it for as long as it took the whole group to form a Gymnastics 'tableau'. To make it harder, the gymnasts knew that the whole group would have to start forming their tableau all over again if any two gymnasts moved to adopt their shape at same time. This also added an element of competition to see which of the two groups could be quickest to successfully establish their tableau without communicating verbally. Without a word, both groups naturally established the technique of identifying a leader who used a series of nods to indicate the order in which the gymnasts should move. To further the challenge, we then attempted to create one whole group tableau without using verbal communication or the nodding technique. It was encouraging to watch as one gymnast took the initiative to adopt the first shape followed intuitively by the gymnast next to them and so on in order around the circle until the whole group tableau was established.  

Upon giving the gymnasts permission to speak again at the end of the session, a group scream, the like of which I had never heard before, filled the room. It can only be described as an outpouring of relief mixed with a sense of achievement and joy. We concluded the session with a discussion as to which methods of non-verbal communication each of the gymnasts had found the easiest to use and understand. So, whilst every gymnast improved the performance quality of a range of balances applicable to their own ability level including a selection of the BG Award Scheme skills, the overriding purpose of that session was to enhance the gymnasts' appreciation of a wider range of communication methods which will hopefully prove useful beyond the Gymnastics setting.

Six months on from that session and the gymnasts still regularly ask, 'when are we going to do a silent gym club again?'. They don't remember that they improved their performance of balances as part of that session but they do remember that they were challenged, succeeded and had fun. I believe, that by setting Gymnastics activities that encourage challenge and learning beyond the sport itself, those delivering extra-curricular Gymnastics in the school club setting can engage and keep the lesser naturally able active within the sport over a longer period of time. Skill development should not be ignored but I encourage club leaders to discretely integrate agility based tasks wherever possible so gymnasts feel comfortable to pick up the vast array of skills in their own time.  

I appreciate that striking the balance between teaching Gymnastics and using Gymnastics activities to teach takes thought and planning time and is, therefore, easier said than done considering the majority of those running extra-curricular Gymnastics sessions will be teaching staff with many other demands on their time. As such, I hope to help extra-curricular club leaders to bridge the gap in provision for those pupils who are interested to participate in Gymnastics beyond the curriculum but for whom a skill development focused community club environment is not appealing or relevant. With that in mind, I shall continue enjoying the opportunity I currently have to create and explore a variety of wider learning Gymnastics activities as part of my role leading the extra-curricular session at my daughter's school and look forward to sharing the content of the most successful sessions through future blogs...