Gymnastics 1 - Unit Overview

The 'Gymnastics 1' unit for Year 4 is meticulously structured to enhance pupils' abilities in performing gymnastic routines that incorporate matching, contrasting, and linking balances, both on the ground and using apparatus. Throughout the unit, there is an emphasis on evaluation, which allows students to critique and improve their performances. This unit builds upon the foundational gymnastic skills acquired in earlier years, ensuring a progressive learning experience for the pupils. The teaching tips provided suggest that lessons are designed for a one-hour duration, inclusive of time for changing, and may require adjustments if the available time is shorter. Key points include ensuring routines have clear beginnings, middles, and ends, promoting creativity, and maintaining safety with appropriate use of gymnastic mats and the removal of shoes and socks.

The unit overview also outlines a medium-term plan, detailing the learning objectives and success criteria for six lessons. The first two lessons focus on performing and evaluating routines with matching balances, initially on the floor and then on apparatus. In lessons three and four, the focus shifts to routines with contrasting balances, again first without and then with apparatus, encouraging pupils to create a variety of shapes and demonstrate fluidity. The final two lessons aim to consolidate previous learning by performing and evaluating routines with linked balances, culminating in the use of apparatus to demonstrate these links. Throughout all lessons, the importance of safety, precision, control, and creative transitions is underscored, along with the continuous process of self and peer assessment.