FMS: the building blocks of Physical Education
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" - Chinese proverb.
Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) are the essential foundation movements that lead to the development of more focused and complex skills used in games, sports, movement and recreational activities. This is why FMS are often considered the ‘building blocks’ of ALL physical education (PE) programs.
Each FMS has specific and observable components which develop in a sequential manner over time. The early school years F-3 are often viewed as a critical time period, during which all or many of these skills would normally be developed. It is essential that students develop the confidence and competence in FMS to a level where they can independently engage in a variety of physical activities. There has also shown to be an intrinsic link between FMS and lifelong participation in activity.
How to focus FMS skills in your current PE program
Due to its relevance and widespread implementation across Victorian schools, in this article we will be referencing the Victorian Department of Education resource ‘Fundamental Motor Skills – A Manual for Classroom Teachers’. However, it is important to note, what resource you use is less important than the decisions you make in selecting and teaching those FMS most relevant to your students.
Many teachers would be familiar with the table below with suggested levels to introduce FMS >>
It is vital that teacher’s use these ‘suggested levels’ as a guide only and adapt the introduction and teaching of FMS to suit the needs of their students.
There are a few principles embedded in this figure that which teachers should consider:
- How many FMS can be realistically introduced and taught with expectation of improvement at any one level?
- Over how many units, semesters and years should an FMS be introduced, refined and developed?
- How often should an FMS be returned to (e.g. in a game, station or warm-up) across the year to maintain development that occurs when it is taught in an intensive?
- What does “mastered” mean? – does the skill need to be perfect or to be able to be functionally applied in a game or recreational setting.
When running our professional development workshops, we often ask teachers the following questions:
- How many games, sports and activities involve the kick or punt?
- How many games, sports and activities involve the catch?
Answer these questions for yourself. If one of your program outcomes is for students to develop skills required for involvement in lifelong activity, you may need to consider how much time and resources are allocated to different FMS.
Each teacher has a degree of freedom, and whilst children should be exposed to, and be given opportunities to develop as wide a range of FMS as possible, teachers also need to link program focus to program outcomes.
Another reality experienced by most primary physical education teachers is a lack of time. It becomes even more important for teachers to identify those areas of most importance for their students early on and devote as much time feasible to developing those areas and filling those FMS gaps. Consequently, this can result in other areas receiving less focus, but will ensure FMS learning goals are achieved in those areas of highest importance to students.
Want to learn more about FMS?
- Sign up for our one-day applied 'Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) and Game Sense workshop' with Dr. Bernie Holland on 20 March 2020 to learn basic, hands-on FMS strategies and concepts that link to the Victorian HPE curriculum. Click here to register today!
- Download our 'Tips of the Week HPE' 40 and 17 for additional FMS info and ideas.
- Stay tuned for details of our upcoming Facebook LIVE 'Q and A' session with Bernie, where he will be standing by to take your questions regarding all things FMS!
Need further advice or would like to speak to a member of our PL team? Please get in touch!