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Sports injury prevention in school PE
Most school injuries are not dramatic fractures. They are ankles on uneven grounds, fingers in a poorly caught ball, and heat illness in a long afternoon final. Prevention is organisation.
This is general educational material. It is not medical advice. Serious injury needs a qualified medical professional.
Before the lesson
- Walk the ground: holes, glass, wet patches, unprotected posts.
- Footwear: no sliding sandals for running games.
- Jewellery off; nails trimmed for catching games.
- Know who has asthma or a recent injury; they sit out or do a modified task.
Warm-up that matches the sport
A 100 m race needs strides and starts. A throwing lesson needs shoulder circles and light standing throws. Static stretching of cold muscles as the only warm-up is a poor match for sprinting.
Matching and overuse
Do not put an untrained Class 6 student in a full-contact senior football game “to make up numbers”. Limit throwing volume in a single period. Rotate pitchers / servers.
If an injury happens
- Stop the activity. Crowd control.
- Do not relocate a deformity.
- For a mild sprain, RICE is a first-aid memory aid: Rest, Ice (not on bare skin for long), Compression if trained, Elevation. Reassess.
- Inform the office and parents as per school rules.
Exam theory: Class 12 Unit 7. Viva: viva page.