Ballina students among first to study PE for Leaving Cert

SAINT Mary’s Secondary School in Ballina has been selected as only one of 50 schools nationwide to roll out the new Leaving Certificate (Examinable) Physical Education Programme.

From September this year, students at St. Mary’s will be given the opportunity to engage in the in-depth study of physical education and will sit the subject as part of their Leaving Certificate in June 2020.

Principal Mr. Robert O’Reilly said he is delighted with this development. He stated: “It is a wonderful opportunity for students in our school who are physically literate to be assessed and rewarded for their interest in sport and physical activity. Construction is scheduled to start on our new school later this year which will boast a state of the art gymnasium and fitness suite to aid the delivery of the new programme.”

The new Leaving Certificate subject will centre around six physical activity areas - adventure activities, aquatics, artistic and aesthetic movement, athletics, games and personal exercise and fitness activities. Students will choose three of these areas to study. Within the framework of these three activities students will explore topics such as the physical and psychological demands of performance, learning and improving skill technique and how media and technology impact on sport.

At the conclusion of their two-year programme students will be assessed according to a number of different criteria. While half the marks will be awarded for the final written exam the remaining 50% will be project and performance based.

Students will submit, in digital format, a personal activity project, worth 20%, on an activity or sport they excel at, either as a performer, coach or choreographer. Their remaining 30% will awarded for their actual performance in a sport of their choice. The students will video their performances in sessions to demonstrate their skills in fully competitive or conditioned settings.

PE teachers Sinead Leonard, Annette Leonard and Ciaran Allen are very enthusiastic about the prospect of PE being examined at Leaving Certificate level. They stated that it would afford students of St. Mary’s with an interest in sport the chance to explore the whole area of physical education in detail and that it opened up future career opportunities in the areas of sports related fitness, physiotherapy, coaching, nutrition and sport science.