Physical Education, Sport & Swimming
What does it mean for every girl to feel physically capable?
At Sikh Heritage Girls School, we want girls to grow up seeing strength, coordination, sporting confidence and competition as things that belong to them. Physical Education is therefore a substantial part of the school week, taught through specialist coaching and regular opportunities to practise, compete and improve.
Each week, pupils take part in two specialist sport sessions, one Gym Ninjas session and one swimming lesson. This regularity gives girls repeated opportunities to develop movement, technique, fitness, confidence and the habits that come from purposeful practice.
Our sports programme is delivered in partnership with Inspire Sports Academy, whose coaches work with pupils across a broad range of individual and team activities. The emphasis is not simply on being active; girls are taught how to move more effectively, refine technique, understand tactics and recognise what they need to do next to improve.
Our Weekly Sporting Programme
In the younger years, coaching develops the physical foundations that make later sporting competence possible. Balance, coordination, agility, running, jumping, throwing and catching are practised regularly before being applied with increasing control within games, gymnastics and other activities.
As pupils mature, sessions become more technically demanding. Girls experience sports including football, netball, basketball, cricket, athletics, gymnastics, tennis and badminton, learning to apply skill under pressure, work tactically with others and evaluate their own performance.
Gym Ninjas adds another dimension to the week, developing strength, balance, coordination, agility and confidence in tackling physical challenges. Together, these experiences give pupils breadth while still allowing important movement patterns and techniques to be revisited often enough for genuine improvement.
Reception establishes these foundations from the beginning through specialist physical development and sport, with swimming joining their programme from the Spring term.
Competition and Representation
Inter-school competition gives girls opportunities to put their skills into practice beyond familiar lessons. Pupils represent SHGS in a range of events, including competitions organised through the Independent Schools Association, as well as fixtures and tournaments with other schools.
Preparation and reflection are as important as the result. Girls learn how to perform when something matters, follow rules, respect officials and opponents, contribute to a team and respond constructively whether they win or lose.
Competition also creates meaningful stretch for pupils with particular sporting strengths, while remaining part of a wider culture in which every girl is expected to participate, practise and improve.
Swimming and Water Safety
Weekly swimming is a major part of the SHGS programme. Lessons take place at Teikyo Japanese School, where specialist coaches from Inspire Sports Academy develop pupils' confidence, technique, stamina and safety in the water.
Girls work progressively on effective strokes while learning practical water-safety skills, including floating, treading water and safe self-rescue. Individual grades and badges provide clear milestones and help pupils recognise their progress.
We regard swimming differently from an optional sport. It is a practical life skill, and regular access gives girls the time they need to become genuinely competent rather than simply comfortable in the water.
Equity and Sporting Ambition
Pupils arrive with different levels of confidence, coordination and sporting experience, but every girl is taught on the expectation that physical competence can develop.
Those who need more modelling, repetition or adapted activities receive it, while girls demonstrating particular sporting aptitude are challenged through more demanding practice and competitive opportunities. The aim is neither to lower expectations for hesitant pupils nor to hold back those ready to progress further.
Through specialist coaching, regular practice and broad experience, girls learn that improvement is rarely instant. Technique has to be repeated, feedback acted upon and difficult skills attempted more than once. Resilience, discipline and teamwork therefore grow through the sporting experience itself rather than being taught as abstract qualities.
Impact
By the time girls leave SHGS, we want them to have strong foundations in physical literacy and the confidence to take part in a broad range of sports and activities.
They should move with increasing control, understand how technique affects performance, work effectively with others and know how purposeful practice can lead to improvement. Through competition, they should have learned how to represent their school well and respond maturely to both success and disappointment.
Every girl should also leave with meaningful swimming and water-safety experience, including the skills needed to respond more safely in and around water.
Most importantly, we want pupils to leave primary school believing that physical activity is something they can participate in, improve at and continue to enjoy throughout their lives.
Research-Informed Practice
Our approach reflects established thinking in Physical Education about the importance of securing fundamental movement skills before pupils are expected to apply them in increasingly complex sporting situations. Ofsted's PE subject reporting similarly emphasises the value of high-quality instruction, repeated practice and equitable opportunities for pupils to become physically competent.
Swimming and water safety remain an essential part of this provision, with Swim England continuing to emphasise competent swimming, effective use of different strokes and safe self-rescue as important outcomes for primary-aged pupils.
Selected References
Ofsted. Levelling the Playing Field: The Physical Education Subject Report.
Swim England. School Swimming and Water Safety guidance.
Independent Schools Association. ISA Sport programme.