KS2 · Physical education · Year 5

Finishing a race

Athletics: enhanced athletic challenges

Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.

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Your learning goal

I can finish a sprinting race strong, maintaining speed until I cross the line.

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Finishing a race: slides adapted from the imported teaching text; recall questions created from its keywords, learning points and common mistakes. Self-check practice, with no automatic grading or XP. Answers stay on this page and are cleared when you leave.

What you’ll learn

I can finish a sprinting race strong, maintaining speed until I cross the line.

Key learning points

Move: to maintain good sprinting technique we must pump our arms, run on the balls of our feet and keep our head up.
Move: ending the race involves dipping at the finish line by bending forward at the waist as we cross the line.
Think: good sprinting technique means we can run more efficiently and at a greater speed with less effort.
Feel: always trying our best to improve our sprint technique and to win races demonstrates excellent self-motivation.
Connect: encouraging and supporting others can help them and us to improve our sprint technique.

Words to know

sprint: when you run and use all of your energy to go as fast as you can for a short distance
speed: a measure of how quickly we move from one point to another
dip: the technique where runners extend their bodies forward to cross the finish line

Common mistakes

Pupils dip at the wrong time, dipping too early, which has a negative impact on their running speed. Often pupils just dip their head forwards, rather than their upper body.

Give pupils opportunities to practise implementing the dip, aiming for around 3 steps before the finish line. Ensure pupils understand that a sprint race is measured when a runners upper body, shoulders cross the line, not their head.

For parents, carers and teachers

If you have access, using ipads to record in cycle 2 will give pupils a chance to watch back their technique and self-assess.