Physical Education

We are committed to empowering our students to make healthy lifestyle choices and embrace physical activity as part of their daily lives. With PE taught twice a week by a qualified sports coach, our children benefit from expert-led sessions that nurture skill development, teamwork, and a lifelong love for fitness. Additionally, we are fortunate to have specialist sports coaches who introduce students to a diverse range of activities, including dodgeball, netball, hockey, rugby, basketball, cricket, and athletics, with plans to expand into sports such as fencing. To keep minds and bodies active throughout the day, teachers also incorporate engaging brain breaks into classroom routines.

PE Curriculum Intent

In terms of ensuring equity and promoting daily meaningful progress, we envisage by the end of Year 6 that our pupils will enjoy communicating, collaborating and competing in a variety of physical activities. Our pupils will develop their ‘thinking physical being’ (brain) ‘doing physical being’ (body) and ‘behavioural change physical being’ (heart). Most importantly, they will understand the positive effects of physical activity on their well-being and lead healthy active lives through making informed choices. Our pupils recognise the benefits of physical activity and understand how to improve in different physical activities and sports.  They are receptive to exploring a variety of physical activities and sports and recognise the cultural and social significance that sports play in many people’s lives.

The progressive layering of knowledge, embedded in long-term memory, scaffolds pupils to:

  • Understand how the body moves, developing and improving key fundamental movement skills 

  • Link and apply key fundamental movement skills in a variety of games 

  • Learn to follow the rules of games and be a good sportsperson

  • Understand the effect being active has on the body

  • Develop an understanding of the impact of good healthy active lifestyle choices on their physical and mental well-being

Application of Conceptual Understanding – occurs when new information and ideas are incorporated into pupils’ existing knowledge through:

  • Recognising that our bodies are different from one another and move differently 

  • Developing fundamental movement skills, which support physical growth and opens more opportunities to participate in a variety of physical activities  

  • Understanding how making good food choices and being active, supports our long-term health  

  • Making comparisons between different physical activities  

  • Developing an appreciation of sports role models and the impact they have on our lives today 

  • Challenging stereotypes in sport 

  • Understanding that rules need to be followed in games for fairness, equality, equity, safety and enjoyment 

PE Curriculum Implementation

To achieve our intent, our PE curriculum will provide the following:   

  • All PE learning will be linked to prior learning – rewinding previous week’s, previous term and previous year’s learning 

  • Skills and vocabulary are rehearsed and repeated every lesson during ‘learning rewind’ 

  • When relevant, PE will be linked to other areas of the curriculum and used to inspire, engage and ignite curiosity.  Links can be made in English, Maths, Science, PSHE and Geography when purposeful resulting in our curriculum being cross-curricular 

  • A pre-assessment will be carried out to see what the pupils already know about the current subject. 

  • Physical Education is taught through key programs of study-dance, gymnastics, OAA, swimming, hit/run/catch, attack/defend/shoot, run/jump/throw and send/return.  PE Hub is used to support the planning and teaching of PE lessons.

  • A post-assessment will be carried out to check pupil’s understanding of their unit of PE, through playing competitive games or performing a sequence. 

  • PE curriculum is accessible for all, and when necessary, teachers adapt the lesson to ensure all pupils make progress 

  • Year 4 pupils have 10 weeks of swimming lessons at a local pool. 

  • Water safety is taught in EYFS, year 2, year 4 and year 6 explicitly as part of their topic/PSHE lessons. 

Our PE Curriculum Map includes:  

  • A progressive, sequential journey of knowledge, skills and concepts from EYFS to Year 6, encompassing the depth and breadth of the PE curriculum  

  • Immersion in a variety of physical activities 

  • Opportunities to address potential cultural capital disadvantage  

  • A focus on subject-specific vocabulary to equip children with the language to describe their body, how it moves, and effects physical activity has, with precision and confidence 

  • Key outcomes, described as ‘sticky knowledge,’ which form the foundation of prior and subsequent learning 

  • Higher-order, subject-specific questions to assess knowledge and understanding

  • Enhanced learning through visiting experts 

  • Adapted learning and teaching to support those with additional needs through the pre-teaching of PE vocabulary, the use of observing, copying and repeating and refining skills 

  • Targeted support for children with additional needs including peer collaboration, adapting the lesson through space, task, equipment and people 

  • Adapted learning and teaching to challenge all pupils to understand concepts on a deeper level such as why it is important to make good choices for an active and healthy lifestyle 

  • Application of knowledge to make comparisons of a variety of physical activities and apply their understanding/skills to game/performance situations 

  • Learning opportunities that encourage children to develop a genuine interest in and appreciation for being active, watching and participating in a variety of physical activities for life  

PE Curriculum Impact

Our PE curriculum will achieve the following: 

  • Pupils enjoy learning fundamental movement skills through a variety of games and activities

  • They discuss knowledge and concepts they have learned confidently, enthusiastically and passionately during and crucially after their learning 

  • Pupils will be able to recall and use PE subject-specific vocabulary accurately 

  • Pupils can talk confidently about what they enjoy about physical activity, what went well and ways to make their performance even better

  • Pupils will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of physical activities, inter/intra competitions 

  • Pupils will be able to swim and know how to be safe in and around water 

  • Pupils will have the knowledge to make good choices about leading an active and healthy lifestyle 

  • Pupils will have opportunities to participate in a variety of extracurricular clubs 

  • Pupils will have the confidence to try out new physical activities