Bring PE Directly into Your Home With the New #ThisIsPE Campaign
Working with leading organisations and physical educators, Yorkshire Sport Foundation has launched #ThisIsPE. The campaign supports teachers, parents and carers to deliver PE at home during the coronavirus lockdown.
And, Active Devon is keen to encourage as many parents and schools across Devon to take part.
What is #ThisIsPE?
Using specialist teachers of physical education from across the country, #ThisIsPE is a series of short videos with activities.
These free, fun and easy to follow videos are for the whole family to enjoy together. They are all linked to the primary PE curriculum and can be repeated at home, using things around the house.
PE is more than just exercise. The skills it teaches in terms of coordination, balance and strength are crucial to your child’s development.
Each video lasts around two minutes. It introduces an activity, with tips for how to progress, depending on the age and development of your child.
Some of the videos also have ways you can put what your child has learnt, into a game. Plus, how to make that game easier or harder.
This Isn’t Just Physical Activity, This is Physical Education
#ThisIsPE is endorsed by the Government Department for Education. It is also supported by leading national organisations, the Association for Physical Education, and the Youth Sport Trust.
Alex Ogden, lead for PE and School Sport at the Yorkshire Sport Foundation, has led the development of the campaign, and is excited by the early response:
“We noticed that there were a lot of physical activity and exercise initiatives out there, which absolutely have their place. But nothing that really counted as physical education.
PE is more than just exercise. The skills it teaches in terms of coordination, balance and strength are crucial to a child’s development. We want to make the activities easy to replicate at home. So the videos include things you can find around the home rather than sports equipment.
We also know that children are far more engaged when something is fun, so all the activities have that at their core. We hope parents in particular find them useful to both educate and entertain.”
So, you may have thought that PE is all about star jumps, cross country runs in the cold, or the school football team. Physical education is actually about providing your child with the key skills they need as they develop throughout primary school. And it’s fun!
How Can My Family Get Involved?
Families in Devon can now join the many families across the country getting involved in #ThisIsPE.
Videos will be posted at 1pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, which we have added to our Activity Sessions here. You can also find a link to our Activity Sessions at the top of our Facebook page. Or you can access all of the videos here.
Exercise Safely
If you’re unsure about your ability, please be careful when attempting the exercises linked to from this page. Please also note that you’re performing the exercises linked to from our website at your own risk.
For more information, read the Latest UK Government Guidance on Being Active During the Coronavirus Outbreak.
External links may also have advice on how to exercise safely.
Active Devon’s Tools and Resources to Help All the Family
During these unusual and challenging times, Active Devon believes that it is more important than ever that people keep moving. Physical activity is crucial to good health and mental wellbeing. This is why we have set up a range of tools and resources to support you, your family and your community. Head over to our Resources Page to find out more.
