KS1: Part 5. Points of Contact and the Tuck and Straddle Vaults

In unit five we continue to build on the balance, grace and strength that your children will have been learning (key components for any gymnast).

To start proceedings we begin with some galloping exercises between the mats, a good heartbeat raiser, before then looking at balancing on four, three and two points of contact while on the apparatus - requiring good core strength and testing your children's balance.

Skills covered:

• Galloping,
• Balancing on different numbers of small Points of Contact
• Review what we've already learned including the shoulder balance to knee scale.

Both specialist and non-specialist teachers will be able to work through this course since it is logical in format and straight forward in content, with film clips illustrating the sort of outcomes children might be expected to achieve. The content of each Unit is concentrated and the teacher's objective should not be to cram all the material into one session, but rather to water it down and where necessary take several lessons to cover a Unit while following the suggested format, from Body Temperature Raising to Calm Down in each lesson.

The limits of and duration of the Scheme of Work may be extended simply by 'going higher' in an apparatus context and by 'adding a twist' to the skill level demands.

We trust that what follows will lay firm foundations for the development of a child's gymnastics education and that teacher and pupil alike will have fun exploring the exciting world of gymnastics.