Teaching my Year 10 boys PE class on a Wednesday afternoon is one of the highlights of my week. The students are well behaved, enthusiastic and eager to learn.

After finishing our fitness unit in the multi-gym, we started a table tennis scheme of learning. The first couple of lessons consisted of allowing the students to familiarise themselves with the bat and ball and trying to sustain a rally comfortably and then we covered the rules of both singles and doubles competition. The video shows George and Benji sustaining a rally during the warm-up.

This week we looked at how to impart spin on the ball – both topspin for attacking shots and backspin for defensive shots. After completing a few specific drills, the students tried to apply these newly acquired skills into a game situation. Many students did so with high levels of success.

I was lucky enough to play against two students myself. After coming back from 3 points behind I narrowly beat Alvin. I then played Owen twice. The first game ended in a closely fought victory for me. You’d better ask Owen what the score was in the second game.