Using games equipment safely
Physical Education · Key Stage 1 · The School
Carrying it
Carry only a few things at once. Hold them close to your body. Then you can see the floor. Never run while carrying things. A dropped cone or bat is easy to trip on.
Setting it out
Put cones where nobody will run into them. Keep the edges of the space clear. If you set up with care, nobody has to dodge things once the game speeds up.
Putting it away
Put everything back after the lesson. Do not leave it in a pile. A rope left on the floor is easy to miss once a game starts. That is exactly when someone trips on it.
Think about two moments in a PE lesson. In the first, a game is on, and everyone is watching the ball. In the second, kit is being carried or put away, and eyes are on the kit, not the floor. Most trips happen in the second moment, not the first. That is because kit being moved about is not sitting still the way it is once a game has begun. So care with kit matters most just before and just after a game — the two times it feels least like the real lesson has started.
One simple rule
If you are not using it now, it goes in a neat pile or in your hands. Never on the floor where people walk. That one rule stops most accidents before they happen. Say it to yourself each time you put something down. Soon it becomes a habit, not a rule you have to think about.