AISHA AND NARISSA, 2015

SEPEP, or the Sport Education in Physical Education Program, aims to educate students in organising and running a sporting competition.

 

The program has proved a success. The key factors which have contributed to its success as an alternative organisation for school sport are:

 

Teams: Teams need to be small and of equal ability. You also need to change the teams each term.

 

Extended seasons: Seasons include trials and selection of team positions (e.g. captain, coach, board rep.); pre-season training which should be organised by the team coach and captain; competition; and the final series.

 

End-of-season event: This may be a publicised finals day, an awards assembly featuring a guest speaker or an end-of-season excursion. It is essential to the success of the program, as students see the end of the season as something to work towards.

 

Sports board: The sports board is the committee which oversees the administration of the competition. They make decisions regarding which sport is played for that season, the size of the teams, the venues and equipment to be used and the rule modifications to be made. This aspect of the program has been particularly useful in my practice, as it also serves as a 'tribunal' where students can discuss issues, negative and unsportsmanlike behaviours and participation issues. Expectations and consequences can be set up as a group. This gives students more ownership over their experience.

 

Publication of results: Results need to be publicised in order to give the competition some status within the school. Just as grade sport results are published on a noticeboard or in the school newsletter, SEPEP results should also be published. This sports program has provided a great opportunity to achieve some very satisfying and worthwhile student outcomes through sports participation.