Physical Education

James MacAllister (Stirling university) ‘Physically educated persons should be defined as those who have learned to arrange their lives in such as way that the physical activities they freely engage in make a distinctive contribution to their wider flourishing’

Statement of Intent for PE

Intention

Physical Education at Newton Ferrers Primary School is valued for its unique contribution to developing children’s health, fitness, interpersonal skills and emotional well-being. We aim to provide a PE curriculum that pupils from Reception to Year 6 not only enjoy, but that also provides them with opportunities to be creative and competitive while embedding our school values:

Confidence - Creativity - Respect – Peace – Perseverance - Collaboration

Love is the over-arching value

 The national curriculum for PE aims to ensure that all pupils:

 develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities

 are physically active for sustained periods of time

 engage in competitive sports and activities

 lead healthy, active lives

Implementation

At Newton Ferrers, children learn a range of skills and sports in structured PE lessons.  Every class has 2 sessions of scheduled time committed to providing physical education. This includes competitive games, striking and fielding games, net/wall games, OAA, and dance and gymnastics.  Skills taught in these areas are transferable and pupils are encouraged to value the benefit of competition and participation alongside the physical and mental health benefits of daily activity.  The children across our school develop confidence and competence in performing different skills and build a resilience to overcome challenges as they

arise. 

We follow the guidelines set by the national curriculum to ensure we offer a range of PE activities that allow each child to feel challenged and offer opportunities to progress further. Teachers refer to units of work and planning from GetSet4PE, alongside our own skills ladders to ensure progression and coverage across the school. The school believes in the importance of developing the fundamental skills of balancing, running, jumping, hopping and skipping throughout children’s time in Primary School.  Therefore, children are taught these skills specifically in Years R-4 as an independent unit of work and these are further developed within other units. In Years 3-6, focussed lessons are also used to further develop children’s understanding of fitness and this includes the development of speed, stamina, strength, coordination, balance and agility.

In the Foundation Stage, Physical Development is one of the prime areas where children learn to explore, experiment and refine their gross and fine motor skills. Children are encouraged to access a wide range of physical activity throughout the indoor and outdoor provision as well as taking part in more formal PE sessions. The outdoor provision provides a climbing frame and space to run around as well as large loose parts for children to build and manipulate as they choose. Through enhancements, other opportunities for gross motor development are on offer. Inside, you will find a wide range of resources for children to work on their fine motor development for example, using glue, tape and scissors in junk modelling, playdoh on the messy table and using pens/pencils on the creation table. Through ongoing assessments, children may take part in dough disco and fun fit sessions depending on the needs of the cohort.

In Key Stage 1, children build on their early experiences and move into paired and group activities.  They begin to play different games, explore and link actions, improve coordination and balance.  They begin to express ideas and feelings about their own performances.

In Key Stage 2, children build on their previous experiences through a broader PE curriculum.  They learn specific skills within games and refine and improve existing ones. The children develop confidence to evaluate their own and other performances and reflect on how they can improve. They learn to work as a team, in pairs and small groups as well as taking part in competitive experiences both inside and outside of school. 

As a means of professional development, specialised sports coaches work alongside the staff to teach the children at least once a term.

Swimming

We promote children being taught to swim proficiently. Pupils will be able to access swimming provision twice in KS2 to ensure children have the opportunity to become proficient swimmers. The school will also offer water confidence and safety lessons for children in Years 5/6. This is delivered throughout the Summer months at a swimming pool based at Averton Gifford, another school within our Federation.

Our aims for the pupils at Newton Ferrers Primary School are:

 To promote a love of water-based activities (as we are a coastal school).

 To improve pupils water confidence by promoting enjoyment through games and fun activities.

 To offer an enhanced provision (top-up swimming) by identifying pupils who would benefit from extra support (children who are unable to swim 25m).

 To ensure pupils are able to use a range of strokes effectively and gain awareness of survival and self-rescue skills for all ages.

Promoting PE and Active Lifestyle inside and outside of the curriculum

A positive attitude towards active lifestyles is promoted and we aim to introduce children to lifelong physical activity. This is provided by the children having access to a wide range of extracurricular sporting clubs which accommodate a wide variety of interests.

The children also take part in a ‘mile-a-day’ running activity to help develop fitness and stamina. Children are also encouraged to be active at break times, with a range of equipment offered. Sports Leaders take responsibility for the provision of equipment, as well as leading small group games or activities.

In order for children to participate in competitions at varying levels, the whole school take part in intra-competitions, including Sports Day. The school is also linked to the Ivybridge Community College Sports Partnership which offers children opportunities to compete in a wide range of sporting competitions up to Level 3 (County level). 

In KS2, pupils are provided with the opportunity to attend off-site residential trips, taking part in a range of adventurous activities such as climbing, abseiling and orienteering.

Impact

By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study. At Newton Ferrers, teachers use the first session of each unit to informally assess children’s skills and understanding, and adapt planning as needed. At the end of each unit, we use summative assessment to determine children’s progress and inform teachers’ planning of next steps. Videos and photographs are used as a way to assess progress, and these are used with the children, as well as by teachers and subject leaders.

PE Long Term Planning

PE Progression of Skills

Mile-a-day

Revelstoke class combined their mile-a-day with their courageous advocacy and took part in a sponsored run. They ran as a team for an hour and used their sponsorship money to create Christmas shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.