KS1: Part 1. Gymnastic Shapes - The long shape

What better place to start than at the beginning?

In unit one we lay the foundations for your young gymnasts, teaching them the core actions and body positions that they will use throughout the rest of this scheme of work... and potentially beyond:

Skills covered:

• The Long Sit,
• Jumping and landing,
• Gymnastic shapes (the tuck and dish shape),
• Tuck sit and roll,
• Jogging and leaping on a bench (with mount and dismount)

Both specialist and non-specialist teachers will be able to work through this course since it is logical in format and straight forward in content, with film clips illustrating the sort of outcomes children might be expected to achieve. The content of each Unit is concentrated and the teacher's objective should not be to cram all the material into one session, but rather to water it down and where necessary take several lessons to cover a Unit while following the suggested format, from Body Temperature Raising to Calm Down in each lesson.

The limits of and duration of the Scheme of Work may be extended simply by 'going higher' in an apparatus context and by 'adding a twist' to the skill level demands.

We trust that what follows will lay firm foundations for the development of a child's gymnastics education and that teacher and pupil alike will have fun exploring the exciting world of gymnastics.