The Intent of our P.E Curriculum
At St Alban & St Stephen we aim to give our children the tools and understanding of how PE can make a positive impact on their own physical health and well-being. In developing knowledge and understanding of their body’s ability, there is an opportunity to recognise that they are all made in the image and likeness of God. We want all children to experience a wide variety of sports and physical skills which will enhance lifelong fitness to preserve the sanctity of life by the promotion of a healthy lifestyle.We aim to challenge them and promote self-esteem through the development of physical confidence and problem solving whilst living our school values. By giving them the opportunities to compete in sport and empowering them to develop their leadership skills, we hope to build their strength of character in order to cope with success and failure in both individual and team based physical activities.In our teaching of P.E. , we want to inspire our pupils to succeed in all areas of physically literacy, experience the enjoyment that being fit and active can bring to life and install our values of faith, friendship, determination, respect, and unity.
Regardless of Key Stage, within each lesson, we strive to give every child the opportunity to develop skills in PE, consider the impact on their health and fitness, compete/perform and evaluate. We are very fortunate to have a sports specialist who teaches P.E across the whole school and also supports the teachers in their other P.E lessons through the week.
Through our tailored curriculum the children will experience the following:
- The ability to acquire new knowledge and skills exceptionally well and develop an in-depth understanding of PE.
- The willingness to practise skills in a wide range of different activities and situations, alone, in small groups and in teams and to apply these skills in chosen activities to achieve exceptionally high levels of performance.
- High levels of physical fitness.
- A healthy lifestyle, achieved by eating sensibly, avoiding smoking, drugs and alcohol and exercising regularly.
- The ability to remain physically active for sustained periods of time and an understanding of the importance of this in promoting long-term health and well-being.
- The ability to take the initiative and become excellent young leaders, organising and officiating, and evaluating what needs to be done to improve, and motivating and instilling excellent sporting attitudes in others.
- Exceptional levels of originality, imagination and creativity in their techniques, tactics and choreography, knowledge of how to improve their own and others’ performance and the ability to work independently for extended periods of time without the need of guidance or support.
- A keen interest in PE. A willingness to participate eagerly in every lesson, highly positive attitudes and the ability to make informed choices about engaging fully in extra-curricular sport.
- The ability to swim at least 25 metres before the end of Year 6 and knowledge of how to remain safe in and around water.
These key PE skills and concepts are: - Develop practical skills in order to participate, compete and lead a healthy lifestyle.
The Implementation of our P.E Curriculum
All learning will start with revisiting prior knowledge and making meaningful connections. Staff will model explicitly the subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning to allow them to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts.
All lessons will begin with a warm up where children can discuss the benefits of warming up prior to exercise. Teachers will then introduce new learning and model their expectations of this through demonstrations and the use of secondary resources. Children will be then expected to build upon their previous learning and apply new skills. In order to improve their performances further, children will be asked to evaluate their own and peer’s performances and identify strengths and areas to improve. A cool down will be carried out at the end of every lesson and the reasoning behind this will be discussed and explained. P.E assessment is ongoing throughout the relevant areas to inform teachers with their planning of lesson activities and differentiation. Summative assessment is completed at the end of each topic where P.E objectives have been covered. Where appropriate, our sports people will be given a variety of experiences both in and out of the classroom to create memorable learning opportunities and to support and develop their understanding further.
The Impact of our P.E Curriculum
At St Alban & St Stephen, ‘pupil voice’ shows that pupils are confident and able to talk about what they have learnt in physical education using subject specific vocabulary. Pupil voice also demonstrates that pupils enjoy P.E and are able to recall their learning over time. Pupils’ performances in lessons demonstrates that P.E is taught at an age appropriate standard across each year group with opportunities planned in for pupils working at greater depth. Performances are of good quality and demonstrates pupils are acquiring knowledge, skills and vocabulary in an appropriate sequence. Extra-curricular clubs and competitions provided through the local sports partnership enable children to participate in competitive sport. This has led to many children forming external links with clubs in the community as well as being identified and placed on gifted and talented pathways.
Through the effective use of our sports premium, the school has been able to improve the engagement of all pupils’ in regular physical education. Furthermore, the profile of PE and sport has been raised across the school as a tool for whole school improvement. Teachers are more confident at teaching PE due to an increase in their knowledge and skills. A broader range of sports and activities have been offered to pupils and there has been an increase in the participation in competitive sport.
Our pupils leave St Alban & St Stephen Catholic Primary School with the knowledge to think like a sportsperson, act like a sportsperson and speak like a sportsperson, and they value the transference of these skills into their everyday life, in education and beyond.
PE Curriculum Map and Skills Progression