A 6 week programme to introduce psychological awareness and understanding of our
individual mental skills in preparation for later life.

Intent

-Introduce the foundations of sport and exercise psychology skills.
-Understand why we feel certain emotions when participating in activities and normal life.
-Develop a greater understanding of different coping strategies to help children manipulate and control these
feelings so the children can perform at their personal best.

Implementation

-6 Week block of classroom-based work

Week 1 Introduction & Growth Mindset
Week 2 Motivation
Week 3 Anxiety & Working Under Stress
Week 4 Focus & Concentration
Week 5 Self Confidence & Self Belief
Week 6 Team Work & Communication

Impact

-Children use coping strategies to deal with anxiety and working under stress that can apply across the full
curriculum and real life.
-Children understand their own bodies and how and why their bodies react to certain scenarios.
-Developed self-management skills around metal health and wellbeing.
-The Sport Psychology Skills Questionnaire completed at the beginning and end of the course to monitor
progression. The questionnaire is based on the Athletic Coping skill inventory, developed by Smith et al.
(1994). The assessment highlights the following performance factors which are fundamental factors of both
learning and sport development:
-Coping with Adversity: Does the child remain positive and enthusiastic when activities are not going
to plan. Is the child able to remain calm in this situation and quickly bounce back from mistakes and
setbacks.
-Coachability: Is the child open to learning from instructions, accepting constructive feedback without
becoming upset.
-Concentration: Does the child become distracted easily when put in new and unexpected situations, in
both practice and competition.
-Confidence and Achievement Motivation: Is a child positively motivated to achieve their aspirations and
exhibits self-confidence in their own skills.
-Peaking Under Pressure: When challenges and placed in a pressure situation does the child perform
well.
-Freedom from Worry: Does the eagerness and pressure to do well in PE cause the child to worry about
failing and its consequences in sport.
-By analysing the results from the Sport Psychology Skills Questionnaire, it is able to assess a child’s
psychological capabilities in sport, showing areas from improvement initially to target children that require
the correct physical education interventions.