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article 10 July 2025

Building the Pathway: What We Learned in Year One

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๐—•๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ต๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜†: ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ช๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฌ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐—ข๐—ป๐—ฒ

When we launched Performance Pathways, we knew what we wanted to build: a platform that empowered PE teachers to deliver high-quality, high-performance sport education.

But like any new project, year one was less about polishing a finished product and more about listening, testing, adapting, and evolving.

๐—ช๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ณ: that PE should be a place where students grow, not just play. Where sport is the vehicle, but the goal is long-term developmentโ€”physically, personally, and even socially. That belief remains our compass.

But how do we get there? Thatโ€™s been shaped every step of the way by the people using the platform.

๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒโ€™๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ:

๐Ÿญ. ๐—ง๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒโ€”๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†.

The most common feedback we received was, "This is exactly what we neededโ€”but can we tweak it to fit our setting?"

Thatโ€™s a win. Performance Pathways was always meant to offer clarity, not control.

The curriculum gives teachers a roadmapโ€”but leaves room to drive.

๐Ÿฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ปโ€™๐˜ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ.

We expected some pushback. The word ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ can feel exclusive or elitist. But when we explained our definitionโ€”๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜, ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜๐—ต ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒโ€”๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜.

Many even told us this is what their PE program had been missing: a focus on progress, not just participation.

๐Ÿฏ. ๐—–๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜‚๐—บ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—น๐˜† ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜†โ€”๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€.

Some of the most exciting moments this year didnโ€™t come from the lesson plans. They came from the workshops, the conversations, and the teacher breakthroughs.

One teacher told us, โ€œIโ€™ve taught for 15 years, but this is the first time Iโ€™ve felt I had a clear purpose for every lesson.โ€ That stuck with us.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜โ€™๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜?

Weโ€™re building ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜€, ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜‚๐—บ, and ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—น๐˜€.

But weโ€™ll keep the same approach: listen, build, refine. Just like the pathway our students takeโ€”progress happens when you commit to it.

๐—œ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚โ€™๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟโ€”๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚.

Youโ€™ve helped shape Performance Pathways into something meaningful. If youโ€™re new here, consider this your invitation to join a growing community of educators redefining what PE can be.

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Director of Performance Pathways

Martin Brockman is Director of Brockman Athletics, providing teacher training and track and field teaching resources for schools around the world. Representing Great Britain in the decathlon for almost a decade, Martin achieved a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Dehli, 2010. On retiring from his international career, he moved to the world-leading Aspire Academy in Qatar as the Head of Athlete Development where he designed and implemented the academy athletics program from talent identification through to international athletics.

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