ABSTRACT
To date, athletics has remained largely neglected within many schools. Where delivered, the teaching of athletics involves activities which will most likely focus upon recognised adult techniques, measuring and improving performance and preparing for ‘sports day’. What has been lost, however, in these adult conceptions of what athletics ‘is’ is sound development of running, jumping and throwing – core skills that permeate all other areas of Physical Education. This chapter explains how we should rethink primary athletics, celebrate its importance and outline how it might be done more effectively.
