PEAI New LCPE Learning Outcomes Webinar

The Leaving Certificate Physical Education (LCPE) specification has been updated for students beginning 5th Year from September 2026, with new Learning Outcomes relating to anatomy, physiology and the body’s response to physical activity.

In this PEAI webinar, Shane O’Rourke, Lecturer at MTU Tralee, provides practical guidance for PE teachers on what these new LCPE Learning Outcomes may involve, the level of content knowledge students require, and how this material can be taught through practical Physical Education.

The webinar focuses primarily on two areas:
Strand 1, Learning Outcome 1.10 – The Body’s Response to Physical Activity and Physical Activity Participation

Shane explores the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and how students can investigate the body’s response to exercise. This includes heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, breathing rate, body temperature, recovery and practical methods of collecting and interpreting data.

Practical suggestions include collecting heart-rate data before, during and after exercise, comparing responses at different intensities, using wearables and heart-rate monitors, incorporating RPE, and getting students to interpret real exercise data and graphs.

Strand 2, Learning Outcome 2.9 – Muscular and Skeletal Systems in Movement

The second half of the webinar looks at the major bones and muscle groups, joint actions, agonist and antagonist muscle pairs, and planes and axes of movement.

Rather than teaching these concepts in isolation, Shane demonstrates how teachers can connect them directly to skills and movements students already perform. A reusable framework linking the joint, joint action, prime mover and plane of movement is suggested as one way of helping students analyse movements such as kicking, throwing, jumping and striking.

Topics covered include:

• Understanding the new LCPE Learning Outcomes for 2026 onwards
• Cardiovascular and respiratory responses to exercise
• Heart rate, stroke volume and cardiac output
• Resting, exercise and recovery heart rate
• Measuring heart rate with wearables, chest straps and manual methods
• Using RPE when technology isn’t available
• Heart-rate zones and exercise intensity
• Collecting and interpreting practical exercise data
• Major bones and muscle groups
• Joint actions and joint types
• Agonist and antagonist muscle pairs
• Planes and axes of movement
• Connecting anatomy to sporting skills
• Using resistance training to teach anatomy practically
• Sample LCPE questions and command verbs
• Ideas for formative assessment and exam preparation
• Practical ways to make anatomy and physiology more engaging for students

A central message throughout the webinar is to connect the theory to movement. These Learning Outcomes are not intended to become abstract biology lessons. Teachers can use activities, skills, fitness data and training that students are already completing to help them understand and apply the underlying anatomy and physiology.

Supporting Resources

The accompanying folder contains the webinar slides alongside additional resources, guidance and sample questions discussed during the presentation.

PEAI Senior Cycle PE Review Webinar Tuesday 14th April at 6.00pm

PEAI Nutrition Webinar May 2024 – “Thought for Food & Food for Thought”

This webinar aims to refresh teachers’ knowledge of the ‘Nutrition for Health and Performance’ to support their teaching of LCPE.

The webinar was delivered by Catherine Norton (RD, PhD), Associate Professor of Nutrition at the University of Limerick, and PEAI Executive Committee member John Murphy (MSc, PhD) lecturer at SETU, Waterford.

PEAI Webinar Auigust 2025 – Sports Psychology Webinar

In this webinar, sports psychologist Dr. Emma Saunders (SETU Waterford) explores how to bring sports psychology topics alive in the PE classroom. Drawing from her applied work with athletes at Olympic and Paralympic level, Emma shares practical classroom strategies for teaching core psychological concepts like motivation, confidence, and concentration.

Whether you are a PE teacher, coach, or student of sport science, this session offers ready-to-use examples, reflection tasks, and resources to help make psychology relatable and applicable.

All additional resources mentioned in the webinar can be accessed through the PEAI website or linked below. If you enjoyed this webinar, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more PEAI content.

A Practical Guide to Teaching Resistance Exercise in Physical Education

This webinar aims to provide you with:

• An understanding the safety, benefits, and rationale for introducing resistance exercise as part of your PE programme.
• Guidance on exercise selection and programme design
• Ideas on sample lesson and task card design

Access to the presentation slides, and associated workshop resources are available here