Change your PE Lessons in 4 STEPs

The STEP framework in PE was developed to support teaching and learning.  The STEP framework is an easy-to-use approach to adapting, differentiating and extending PE and sports lessons.  STEP has been highly promoted over the past 10 years, including being used in PE teaching resources and CPD courses.

The STEP principle is a versatile framework developed by “young leaders” to adapt and differentiate PE activities and games to suit the needs and abilities of all participants. STEP stands for Space, Task, Equipment, and People. By adjusting these four elements, teachers and pupils themselves can make activities more inclusive, challenging, or accessible, ensuring that every child is engaged and learning.

What does STEP stand for in PE?

Space

Where the activity is happening – For example, modify the space by increasing or decreasing the area in which a task is to be performed. Or by changing the distance to or areas in which to score points.  This might include how you set up the working area for mats and where the sequence is performed in a gymnastics setting.

Task

What is happening – E.g. modify the task by changing the demands, the rules of the activity, the number of times the child is to repeat the task, teaching cues, direction/level/pathway of movement or length of time to complete the task.  An example might be one group must perform a 6-element gymnastics sequence while another group must perform a 10-element routine.

Equipment

What is being used – Modify the equipment used in a task by changing the size of the target, the amount of equipment, the height of the equipment, or the equipment’s arrangement.  An example might be a rounders game; one player chooses a paddle bat with a bigger face to strike the ball, and another player chooses a rounders bat.  They complete the same task but use equipment suitable for their skill level, allowing them to play the same game.

People

Who is involved – Adapting the roles and relationships of the people involved by having children work alone, with a partner, in bigger teams, smaller teams, as leaders or followers, on different activities, or in a small group.

Maybe the more confident gymnasts could jump from higher apparatus, or a developing group of netballers could be challenged by playing on a bigger court.  Why not try a few of the STEP principles in your PE lessons this week and see what results?

At The PE Hub, we encourage STEP in PE lessons during years 5 and 6 to help children take the lead in their own work.  We support teachers and pupils in doing so with resources, including planning sheets like this one, a pupil handout for a year 4 PE gymnastics lesson.  We have demo tours of The PE Hub at times to suit teachers.  During the tour, you will see how our PE lesson plans are structured and the resources you can use to support your teaching.  We also do a whistle-stop tour of the full features of our learning management system (LMS), including assessment, managing your pupils and classes and building progressive PE curriculum maps.

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