UKC

Following on from the UKC article - http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=636462

I can now confirm that the Edexcel (Pearson) syllabi has been updated, the changes were accepted and it is now possible for students to do the Climbing element as a Bouldering Only Practical, and all the typos etc were also corrected!

In reply to Iain McKenzie:

Climbing as a GCSE? The mind boggles.

What could a bouldering element comprise that could actually be taught at school?

In reply to stp:
Watching The Real Thing, Stick It, Stone Love and One Summer with Q&A sessions after every viewing. School trips to Minus Ten and Toms Roof could also be part of the syllabus.

In reply to stp:
Watching The Real Thing, Stick It, Stone Love and One Summer with Q&A sessions after every viewing. School trips to Minus Ten and Toms Roof could also be part of the syllabus.

In reply to stp:

In what way do you think bouldering differs from any other sport, that it cannot be taught at school? I imagine it will be mostly indoor, as per the new Olympic sport.

In reply to ceri:


How many schools have staff that can teach bouldering?

In reply to timjones:


How many can teach a whole range of none mainstream sports? As is ever the case, it will come down to individual teachers with an interest in that particular sport. Obviously inclusion within the GSCE will encourage that activity.

In reply to stp:

There's no GCSE in climbing. The PE GCSE requires pupils to take part in, and show ability in, a variety of sports. Each pupil chooses a small number of sports from a long list of options. Climbing has been one of those options for a long time. Now bouldering is an option too.

Not every school offers every option, it depends on what expertise PE staff have (and occasionally volunteers from other departments).

Hopefully the new syllabi will be better than the old ones. I ran some climbing courses for a school I worked at as a science teacher and the assessment criteria for climbing were a joke. Obviously written by a non-climber.

In reply to stp:

As Luke90 says, its just one element of the PE GCSE that the kids can choose.

My son chose skiing as one of his sports and we had to make a DVD on holiday showing him doing all the required elements, then taking off his helmet at the end to show that it was actually him. Then the teacher had to mark it.

I guess it will be the same for bouldering

In reply to stp:


The current British champion started climbing at and competing with the school.

In reply to stp:



Lessons will be conducted sitting on the floor with tops off / beanies on with occasional bursts of writing.

In reply to stp:


Well if it were to actually be taught I imagine....

Correct warm up routine
Stretching
Body positioning
Techniques
Training methods
Safe falling practices
Recovery methods
Injury types and prevention
Ethics
Grade understanding
History of bouldering
Competition rules

Probably many more could be included.

In reply to GarethSL:

There are actually many schools with climbing walls.

For the draft assessment criteria see P225

http://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/Physical%20Education...