Welcome and thank you for choosing Canterbury Christ Church University as your higher education destination to the BA (Hons) 'top up' Degree in Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport. This is a unique employment-based degree where you will be learning to apply theory to practice in your place of work or where you volunteer. The BA (Hons) 'top up' degree aims to develop your personal, professional and academic skills with module content that will extend your knowledge, skills and understanding through both theory and practical experiences. A dedicated team of tutors will support you at every step in your learning journey at Canterbury Christ Church University.

Alison Carney
Course Director for Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport (Top Up)

Key dates

Course start date: 17 September 2024

Academic Calendar: 12-week Trimesters (long break)

View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2024-25 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays.

Welcome and induction

Your Welcome Week is an essential introduction to your course and student life at CCCU, helping you to feel confident and prepared for your studies right from the very start.

It is important to check your Welcome Schedule for all the activities you are required to attend during the week.

Your teaching timetable 

UniTimetables provides an overview of all teaching activities on a course. Your individual timetable will be available via MyTimetable and is personalised to show you what modules and groups you are expected to attend.

Your individual student timetable can only be produced once you have engaged with online registration and created your computing account. It is essential you complete these tasks when invited, so that your course team can assign you to your teaching activities and publish your individual timetable.

Find out more about all aspects of timetabling for new students including user guides.

Welcome

The Faculty of Science, Engineering and Social Sciences is the key provider of sport, health and education students and employees across Kent.

Our Faculty offers a wide variety of educational and research opportunities, within Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport. I hope that this is the beginning of a long association with the University which will continue, after you have completed this course, to support your developing career in the future.

The University has great facilities, including: the University Sports Centre with double sports hall, exercise studio, fitness suite and performance analysis room; Polo Farm Sports Club which includes indoor sports facilities with specialist teaching space for academic courses and venue for netball, cricket and hockey teams.

Innovative facilities have been added to the University with the including the Verena Holmes building which houses specialists labs for sport, exercise and rehabilitation sciences.

The University also offers a Sports Scholarship Scheme for a range of abilities and interests.

We look forward to working with you!

*Please note that as you only attend University one day a week your Welcome Day is on Tuesday 17 September 2024*

Getting started

Six Core Modules:

  • Contemporary Issues
  • Professional development
  • Leadership and management
  • Pedagogy for practical activities
  • Independent Study
  • Delivering physical activity, health, and wellbeing

Think about your own philosophy of physical education, physical activity and sport:

  • Why are these subjects important to you and of value to the pupils you teach?
  • What does physical activity/physical development/physical education provide for your learners?
  • Which areas related to physical education, physical activity and sport, from your previous studies, are you most interested in?
  • Can you start to consider which aspects you would like to study as part of your research project and justify why this is important and of value?

You will be required to have a recent satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. If you don't already have this you can apply for one through your organisation.

Social media

Social media can help you keep up-to-date with activities at the University. Here are a few University feeds to look at and follow:

We have an active PE community Facebook page which can be found at Physical Education at CCCU.

These electronic resources will give you an insight into both physical education and physical activity, and keep up-to-date in your field:

Visiting these websites will help you start becoming familiar with current policies on physical education, physical activity and sport within your preferred age phase. These will be discussed during your course.

Websites:

You also may wish to keep track of what we are doing in the Faculty by following us on our Faculty Instagram page.

Community

On the social side, the Student Union (CCSU) has a huge range of clubs and societies – all of which have unique social calendars of their own and offer endless opportunities to make lifelong friends and discover new hobbies. And you can always create your own society and cultivate your own community!

CCSU will be hosting their Welcome Fayre on Wednesday 18th September 2024. Make sure you keep checking the CCSU website for further details and how to get involved.

We understand that you may be nervous about your first few weeks on campus but rest assured - you'll be joining a nurturing and supportive environment where diversity, equality and individuality are part of everything we do.

You can find out more about our welcoming community and making friends here.

If you are an International Student joining us then please see our International Student Support pages for further information and guidance.

Pre-course reading

Our University library has a range of hard copy texts and electronic resources and e-books. The library resources are rated highly by physical education, physical activity and sport students.

We usually tell students to wait until they commence their course at University to make decisions about buying texts.

It is useful to note that the University Bookshop offers 10% discount on most titles in print and have some price-beating book bundles. They also price match Amazon on core texts recommended in the module handbooks you will receive when you start in September. We also advise you to look at the second-hand book market.

As a PE team from Canterbury Christ Church University, we have had our first text published so this will be a good starting point to look through to consider the teaching and learning environment. You will be taught by the authors of the text as well as other experts in the field of Physical Education, Sport, Leisure and Health:

  • Howells, K., Carney, A., Castle, N. and Little, R. (2017) Mastering Primary Physical Education. London: Bloomsbury.

Government documentation and research reports:

Some key books/readings are as follows:

  • Capel, S., Cliffe, J., Lawrence, J. (2021) Learning to teach physical education in the secondary school: a companion to school experience. 5th edn. London and New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
  • Fletcher, T., Ní Chróinín, D., Douglas G., and Beni, S. (eds). (2021) Meaningful physical education: an approach for teaching and learning. Milton: Taylor & Francis Group
  • Lawrence, J. (2018) Teaching Primary Physical Education. 2nd edn. SAGE.

International student success programme

International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.

Contact details

Contact the Course Director if you have any questions - Alison Carney

alison.carney@canterbury.ac.uk

The SERS Administration team can be contacted on

SERS@canterbury.ac.uk