Assessing in Physical Education
Assessing Primary PE has always been a highly debated subject. There are many diverse views from teachers, headteachers, government and Ofsted. There are often more questions than answers; How? When? How often? When it comes to assessment in PE what should we be commenting on and feeding back to pupils?
Assessing PE without levels
In PE we assess without levels. Therefore, any assessment we undertake must be in line with what is being taught. Most importantly, what is being taught should meet children’s needs.
Assessment should be directly linked to learning outcomes. So our assessment document only suits our schemes of work as there are specific outcomes in each unit, which are reflected in the assessment statements.
There is no one-size-fits-all assessment tool for PE, and there are no specific attainment targets. Any assessment needs to consider what pupils can ‘do’ and record their progress over a specific time period. Any assessment model should link directly to what is being taught. Therefore, it should be structured so that pupils can show what they have learned in line with the outcomes.
Head, Hand, Heart
Physical Education is not sport or physical activity. That is to say, PE should develop a web of fundamental skills beyond just the physical.
For example, high quality physical education has been shown to: contribute to children’s confidence, self-esteem and self-worth; enhance social development by helping children to co-operate and compete and to develop a sense of fairness, justice and respect; reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression; benefit cognitive function and academic achievement; and encourage school attendance and engagement (Harris & Cale, 2018; ICSSPE, 2010).
Our curriculum has been written to encompass all these factors following afPE’s model of Head, Hands, Heart.
Head – The thinker; confident, deep learner and decision-maker.
Hand – The physical being; physically competent, physically active and competitive.
Heart – The behaviour changer; developing socially and emotionally, involved and engaged, developing character and values, leading a healthy active lifestyle.
Any outcomes we write are with these in mind; therefore, corresponding assessment statements are, too. You can see an example of our assessment statements in our knowledge organisers.
Learning activities
All learning should be structured so pupils can meet the outcomes. The activities should directly correlate with what children need to learn and what criteria they will be assessed against. Children should know what is expected of them at every stage.
Opportunities to develop across the three strands of Head, Hand, and Heart should be given. Different weight may be afforded to each area depending on the activity being taught and the level of the learners. For example, in year 6, you might expect children to apply a broader range of skills than pupils in year 2.
Recording progress
It is not useful when recording achievement to simply tick a box which says ‘Pupil A can perform a log roll showing body tension’ without some comment on when this was achieved. Pupil A may have been able to perform a log roll before they started the unit of work. Therefore, this attainment statement does not reflect any progress…and progress is the key to achievement. There is no magic bullet for assessment in physical education, but it shouldn’t be overly complicated or time-consuming. Assessing pupils at 3 points throughout the year is realistic and provides enough opportunity to spend time exploring an activity area and making meaningful progress.
Below are some ideas you may wish to include in any assessment you devise fit with the new curriculum:
1 Keep it simple – many skills and processes overlap activity areas, don’t reinvent the wheel for every sport and activity area
2 Make it visual so it is quick and easy to see how pupils are performing
3 Focus on progress made rather than attainment statements
4 Link to assessment for learning. Assessment for learning will help you establish a ‘starting point’ for each new programme of study and allow you to reassess throughout or at the end of the unit.
5 Don’t over assess; choose three realistic times throughout the year that you can stop and make some meaningful observations of your pupils.
6 Celebrate progress, attainment and effort equally because all are required to make physically literate children.
How The PE Hub Makes Assessment Easy
Our Assessment Feature and Tracking Attainment Solutions were designed to remove the stress from PE assessment:
- Quick recording tools that link directly to our schemes of work
- Auto-generated assessment statements built from clear outcomes
- Progress tracking over time, helping you evidence learning and plan next steps
- Reporting tools that make sharing progress with SLT and parents simple
By combining planned learning outcomes with easy-to-use assessment tools, teachers can focus less on paperwork and more on helping pupils succeed.
Whether you’re writing your own schemes or looking to others for support, consider your intent for your pupils. Any scheme you teach should match what pupils need to learn. With clear outcomes, practical tools, and the right system in place, PE assessment doesn’t have to be complicated.