Physical Education at Park Road

 

Intent

 

At Park Road Community Primary School, the aim of our PE curriculum is to inspire children to succeed and excel in competitive sport and develop a love of physical activity. Park Road believes that PE, physical activity & school sport (PESSPA) is a vital part of school life and ultimately our children’s future well-being.

It is our intent to ensure children understand the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and to equip them with the tools to do so through health and well-being education. Children must understand how to take care of themselves both physically and mentally in order to be successful as adults; how to lead a healthy lifestyle and understand why this is important for their physical and emotional health and to know that this is achieved by eating sensibly; being aware of the dangers of drugs and alcohol and exercising regularly.

 

Beyond merely a subject, we believe that participating in physical activity and sporting activity is a key element of developing a school in which pupils are proud of the community in which they belong. Through good physical education, whole school values and a child centred approach, we aim to nurture confident, resilient children, who strive for their personal best. We listen to our children’s wants and needs and provide them with a range of active experiences and clubs. We want to aid our children in obtaining the values and skills to celebrate and respect the success of others, as well as celebrating their own achievements.

 

It is our intent to fully deliver and build upon the aims of the national curriculum for physical education to meet the needs of our pupils. The aims of national curriculum PE 2014 are:

 

  • 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.

 

We believe this links directly with our school’s vision and values of Park Road (Inclusion, kindness, courage, honesty, co-operation and forgiveness) and is another way in which we can positively engage with our local community and be active citizens within it.

 

We our committed to ensuring that all children will receive high quality PE lessons which are planned, sequenced and mapped out in broad and balanced blocks using Real PE and Creative steps to support teachers planning.  Professional sports coaches (such as Warrington Wolves) are used where available to compliment the teaching and we work closely with WASSP to provide subject knowledge development for the teachers as part of our CPD plan. This ensures the provision is of the highest quality.

 

Implementation

 

In order to achieve our intentions of all the children receiving high quality PE lessons the PE subject leader supports staff to gain confidence and competence in teaching high quality PE. The curriculum which is planned and sequenced is well resourced in terms of staff competence, subject knowledge and pedagogy. The subject leader works with all staff to ensure that they understand the sequence of learning and how the content supports the wider progression of pupils in our school through progression documents, with end points, as well as vocabulary for each year group.

 

All staff are also supported to differentiate and adapt their planning to meet the needs of our pupils through CPD and also looking at how to challenge all learners irrespective of their individual starting points. Staff will have high expectations and use these to ensure pupils make good progress.

 

Each year group, across all key stages, will receive a minimum of 2 hours of PE each week with additional sporting clubs. Sports crew, together with the PE coordinator, help to coordinate PESSPA across school, through pupil voice, running activities and supporting competitions.

 

Swimming is taught in addition to this in Years 3, and 4, with each year group spending a term each at the pool in order to meet and wherever possible to exceed the requirements for swimming as set out in national curriculum PE 2014 (namely to achieve the distance of 25m, effect a safe self-rescue and to use recognised strokes). We believe that swimming is an important life skill and a way for children to engage in a broad range of water based physical activities throughout their lives. It is our intent that all pupils leave our school able to swim the minimum standards set out.

 

Children will have the opportunities to participate in a wide range of competitions through inter-house competitions within the school, inter-school competition through the school sports partnership and other opportunities.

 

We are also working with our SRE / PSHE lead to ensure all pupils are aware of the key aspects of mental and physical health, and how they are linked as part of the new requirements implemented in 2020.

 

Impact

 

The aim is that our planned PE curriculum will impact greatly on all our children’s ability to acquire the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to make appropriate choices about their physical and mental health. Wherever possible we align our extended curriculum with the core PE curricular offer to enhance learning and extend opportunities for greater depth. The curriculum will develop positive self-awareness in children as they become physically competent. They will also demonstrate a healthy attitude to all forms of physical activity, to competition, showing respect for individuals, teams, officials and coaches.

 

All children will be assessed using teacher’s assessment which will also allow the subject leader to monitor progress whole school (including specific target groups). Termly observations are also completed by the PE Subject Leader.

 

The priorities set out in the PE Action Plan (including the PE and sport premium plan) are monitored and the targets set are reported upon to ensure the desired impact upon our pupils is achieved.

 

The PE Subject Leader also monitors the impact of planned staff CPD ensuring that the desired outcomes in terms of improved provision for PE are met. Where possible practice is shared, disseminated and built upon. Staff PE Skills audits are revisited annually to help ensure staff can be supported to develop their confidence and competence.