Physical Education
Intent
Physical Education at Prior Heath aims to enthuse and inspire pupils to participate fully, to develop a life-long love of physical activity, sport and exercise and develop the skills and knowledge to significantly impact upon their lifestyles and physical wellbeing. Our broad and balanced physical education curriculum is intended for all children to increase in self-confidence to manage themselves and their bodies within a variety of movement situations. Our intent at Prior Heath is to teach the fundamental movement skills that underpin the foundation of a range of sports.
We have identified a number of key factors, which underpin our planning and provision for physical activity. These include the importance of:
- regular exercise on positive behaviour and concentration levels
- physical activity in supporting a healthy lifestyle
- learning within physical activity which can be key in the development of spatial awareness, co-ordination, speed, skill, stamina, suppleness and agility acquisition
- experiencing leadership, organisation, listening and communication tasks
- engaging the whole family in a healthy and active lifestyle
- physical activity and its potential impact on whole school achievement
- a healthy and active staff in a high paced school environment
- participation in competition
Implementation
At Prior Heath, our teachers use a range of teaching and learning styles to deliver a well sequenced, progressive Physical Education curriculum, which includes gymnastics, games and dance lessons. Coupled with this, progressive learning objectives provide children with a stimulating, enjoyable, satisfying and appropriately challenging learning experience for all.
The children are provided with two hours of structured physical education each week. Within these sessions, the children have the opportunity to engage in whole-class, small group or individual physical activities. Teachers model skills and techniques and also draw attention to good examples of individual performance to use as models for the other children. The children build upon their fundamental skills and have the opportunity to transfer these skills to different sports including hockey, tennis and football.
At our school, children are encouraged to evaluate their own work as well as the work of other children. Within lessons children have the opportunity both to collaborate and compete with each other, and they have the opportunity to use a wide range of resources and equipment.
Prior Heath places a large importance on healthy lifestyles and we regularly discuss the significance of healthy eating and the impact exercise has on our bodies. All children are provided with healthy mid-morning snacks and milk is provided for those who opt into the scheme.
We build in opportunities for short bursts of activity and mindfulness, using a range of resources such as, Go Noodle, Just Dance and Cosmic Yoga. The children are able to access our traverse climbing wall, adventure playground, trim-trail, den building equipment and running track at various points throughout the day.
Effective assessment lies in clear and progressive learning objectives and learning outcomes. In this way, staff and children have specific criteria to assess against. Achievement in Physical Education may be recorded using notes, photographs and video recordings.
Impact
Children enjoy PE lessons and are challenged to be active throughout the session. They are able to talk about how their bodies change when they exercise and can discuss how to lead active and healthy lifestyles. Over time, children’s stamina and skills develop, enabling the majority of our children to meet the expectations for PE in line with the National Curriculum.
The children at Prior Heath become active citizens and are physically literate. A large proportion of our children engage in competitive sports and participate in our wide range of after school clubs.
The Progression of Skills for PE from Reception to Year 2 can be found here. (PDF, 303.15 kB)