A game sense approach focuses physical education lessons on games, with the goal of developing students' tactical awareness, decision making, and enjoyment of the game. This approach teaches skills in the realistic context of a game rather than in isolation. It challenges students to explore solutions and think strategically. The game sense approach relates well to the NSW PDHPE syllabus by developing students' communication, cooperation, decision making, rule following, and more, all within the context of games and sports.

1. GAME
SENSE
APPROACH
IN 5L
PDHPE

2. WHAT IS A GAME
SENSE APPROACH?
Game Sense is a teaching and coaching approach that
targets games as the focus of the lesson (Towns, 2002).

3. WHY USING A GAME
SENSE IS BENEFITIAL?
A Game Sense approach encourages
the students to be more aware in their tactics, make better
decisions during the game, to think strategically about game
concepts whilst developing skills within a realistic context
and to have fun during the process. When students are
focused on the game, they are encouraged to develop a
greater understanding of the game being played. The desired
effect of this is that players/students are more tactically
aware and are therefore able to make better decisions during
the game. At the same time skills are being developed within
a realistic and enjoyable context rather than practice in
isolation (Towns, 2002; Pill, 2016).

4. THE STRENGTHS OF A
GAME SENSE TEACHING
APPROACH
Games as well as being fun, offer a very effective way of
developing skill since the techniques are learnt in a 'real'
game situation with a degree of pressure and the need for
tactical thinking. Skill development is not forgotten, but
incorporated into the game situation. Developing technique
is vitally important; the more skill, the more options.

5. THE STRENGTHS OF A
GAME SENSE TEACHING
APPROACH
The Game Sense is an approach that challenges students,
allows and encourages students to explore, to hold back and
allow players to discover for themselves, to step in only
occasionally to ask questions and to raise awareness or offer
guidance and advice (Towns, 2002). This approach allows
students to come up with solutions, which may be different
from the one anticipated, but at the rewards to be gained by
the process of obtaining that solution. Using this approach,
the teachers thinking is also challenged (Light, 2013).

6. GAME SENSE WITH LINKS TO THE
PDHPE SYLLABUS
The Game Sense teaching approach in many ways relates to the Stage 3 PDHPE syllabus.
COS3.1
Communicates confidently in a variety of situations.
• uses negotiation skills in group activities, eg games
DMS3.2
Makes informed decisions and accepts responsibility for consequences.
• applies decisionmaking processes when choosing a recreational pursuit
• evaluates personal decisions
• accepts responsibility for their decisions
INS3.3
Acts in ways that enhance the contribution of self and others in a range of cooperative situations.
• Expresses and acts appropriately on concern for others
MOS3.4
Refines and applies movement skills creatively to a variety of challenging situations.
PSS3.5
Suggests, considers and selects appropriate alternatives when resolving problems.
• selects the most appropriate solution to a given problem
• reflects on outcomes of chosen solution
GSS3.8
Applies movement skills in games and sports that require communication, cooperation, decision making and
observation of rules.
• devises games or refines rules of games that require equipment
• participates in games and sports combining strategy, teamwork, movement skill and fair play
• explains the rationale for particular strategies and rules in individual and team games and sports

7. REFERENCE
Board of Studies, NSW. (2007). Personal development, health
and physical education K-6: Syllabus. Sydney, Australia: Author.
Light, R. (2013). Game sense for physical education and sport
coaching. In Game sense: Pedagogy for performance,
participation and enjoyment (pp. 37-47). London, UK: Routledge.
Towns, J. (2002). About Game Sense. University for
Woolongong. Retrieved from
http://www.activehealth.uow.edu.au/gamesense/index.html
Pill, S. (2016). An appreciative inquiry exploring game sense
teaching in physical education. Sport, Education and Society,
21(2), 279-297.