Athletics - Lesson 2

The second lesson in the Year 3 athletics curriculum is designed to teach students how to effectively jump for distance. The lesson's learning objectives are clear: pupils should be able to jump from a standing start and develop their skills to jump further distances. To achieve these objectives, the lesson is structured with a warm-up, main activities, and a cool-down session. During the warm-up, which lasts for 10 minutes, students will jog around a space, responding to the teacher's commands to jump in various ways, including from one foot to two feet, and moving towards marker cones with hops, bounces, and steps. This session also includes a running drill to practice 'High Knee Raise running' and 'High Skip' running, with a focus on technique and the mechanics of the movements.

The main part of the lesson, which spans 30 minutes, is centred on the standing long jump. Pupils start at Lane 1 and progress up the mats to reach their maximum distance, with the distance jumped being relative to their height. Key teaching points are emphasised, such as bending the knees, swinging the arms to gain lift, and delaying the landing of the feet to maximise jump length. The lesson incorporates a challenge to see if pupils can jump their own height and concludes with a fun team relay competition where pupils take turns to jump a specified distance. The cool-down involves a gentle jog and stretches for various parts of the body, including arm circles, side stretches, and hamstring stretches. To encourage reflection, pupils discuss how they can improve their jumping and landing techniques and learn about different jumping events in athletics, such as the long jump, high jump, pole vault, and triple jump.