Introduction to Junior Cycle Physical Education (JCPE)
The aim of Junior Cycle Physical Education (JCPE) is to develop students as knowledgeable, skillful and creative participants who are confident and competent to perform a range of activities safely. The course aims to build students appreciation of the importance of health-enhancing and inclusive physical activity and a commitment to it now, and in the future.
Overview - Course
Strand 1 - Physical activity for health and wellbeing
This strand aims to build students understanding and commitment to regular health-enhancing physical activity as apart of a healthy lifestyle. Students apply their learning as they design, implement and evaluate their own physical activity programme.
Strand 2 - Games
The strand focuses on building students’ competence and confidence in two of the following games categories: divided court, invasion and striking and fielding games. Students learn how to develop a range of transferable movement skills and competencies and the ways in which these can be used within and across the different games categories.
Strand 3 - Individual and team challenges
This strand focuses on building students’ competence and confidence in two of the following physical activity areas: orienteering and team challenges, aquatics and athletics. Students are encouraged to set challenging goals for themselves individually and/or as part of a team and to reflect on the experience and progress made. In this strand, schools may choose an adventure activity other than orienteering if their location facilitates this choice.
Strand 4 - Dance and gymnastics
This strand aims to build students’ competency in and understanding of artistic and aesthetic movement, as they create and perform in a group for an audience in either dance or gymnastics. The process of creating the dance of gymnastic movement sequence is seen as being equally important as the final performance.
Assessment and reporting
Classroom-Based Assessment: Selecting evidence of learning
Each strand of this PE short course includes different kinds of psycho-motor learning experiences and provides opportunities for students to receive developmental feedback as they learn. Students will gather evidence of what they have learned in that particular strand through ongoing assessment during and/or the end of each strand.
In third year, when they have completed the four strands, students select evidence of their learning in one strand to submit for their Classroom-Based Assessment.
The Classroom-Based Assessment can be presented in written, digital, visual or audio formats and it may be supported in these formats through the use of an interview or presentation.