Physical Education
Head of Department: Mr C.J. Olver
The Oundle School Physical Education Department boasts some of the best school sporting facilities in the country, which include two large sports halls with four indoor cricket nets, a full size basketball court, an indoor climbing wall, six squash courts, four fives courts, a 45m indoor swimming pool and a superb health and fitness suite housing a variety of up-to-date cardio-vascular machines as well as a free weight training area.
The School offers five Sports Scholarships at 13+.
The department is staffed by:
Mr. C. J. Olver WLIHE (represented England at rugby and Head of PE)Mr. G. Terrett BA, GTP (represented Wales at hockey and Head of Boys’ Games)
Miss. R. S. Goatley BA (tri-athlete specialist)
Mrs. M. Smith MA, CertEd (represented Wales at cross-country)
Mr. G. P. A. Matre MSc, BSc (rowing specialist)
Mrs. S. Franklin (Head of Health and Fitness)
Miss. L. M. Eich M.Ed (Head of Girls’ Games)
The Department also includes six Sports Fellows:
Miss A.C. Biddle
Mr. E. P. Birkbeck
Miss J.H. Jackson
Mr A. Neill
Mr. A. T. Priest
Miss J. Reed
Miss R.S. Tuckey
Course content
First to Third Form
PE is taught as part of the core curriculum in the First to Third Forms, where the pupils follow a programme of health and fitness, including learning about their bodies in relation to sport, exploring many hand and eye co-ordination activities, in addition to swimming, athletics, squash and badminton.GCSE
We currently teach the Cambridge IGCSE Board specification. Pupils learn about factors that affect the performance of an athlete, health, safety and training, and have the opportunity to take part in a wide variety of physical activities, including both individual and/or team based games or sports. They learn how to analyse an athlete’s performance in a specific sport and plan a course for improvement.AS Level
The AS Level course provides an opportunity for pupils to study both theoretical and practical aspects of physical education. They are required to demonstrate an ability to select and apply basic skills and techniques, tactics, strategy and team skills, as well as an ability to evaluate and improve performance.A2
At A Level pupils study principles and concepts across different areas of Physical Education, including the improvement of effective performance and the critical evaluation of practical activities in Physical Education.Games
The Physical Education programme runs concurrently with a Games programme that all pupils follow, enabling even those who have not selected Sports Science as an option to enhance their understanding of their own health and fitness and learn to enjoy sport in a fun environment, be it competitive or not. Both Physical Education and Games complement one another extremely well, enabling Sports Science pupils to apply the theory that they learn in lessons in a practical environment.