At Windmill Hill Academy, we believe Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity should give all children the opportunity to improve and achieve physical competence in line with their age and potential. We believe that providing inclusive and competitive opportunities for children is vital so they become enthusiastic about physical activity and encourages an active lifestyle. This will also develop physical literacy which is highly important.
The aim of physical education is to promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles. The wider benefits of PE include the promotion of positive attitudes to health and well-being, the development of emotional resilience and a wide range of personal skills including leadership. Children are taught to observe the conventions of fair play, honest competition and good sportsmanship as individual participants, team members and spectators.
Pedagogy
At Windmill Hill Academy, we follow the objectives of the National Curriculum in a progressive format in line with our knowledge and skills organiser for PE. We use the Arena scheme to support the planning and teaching of PE.
During the course of the year, pupils will receive PE sessions taught by a specialist coach/trained teachers within school. This may include: cricket sessions, Wild Tribe sessions or sports/muti skills sessions.
Pupils learn many different skills whilst developing their understanding of different sports. They learn to follow rules, gain respect and understand competition. A wide and varied PE curriculum is provided with the pupils developing knowledge and skills in a variety of different sports.
After school clubs are also offered on a weekly basis. Football is provided through Brenden Worth's Cricket Academy, Arena provide a sports club which changes every term and there is bowls club for Key Stage Two.
Friendly and competitive events take place throughout the academic year and are aimed at a variety of different age ranges.
Pupils in Years 2 to 5 receive a block of ten swimming sessions each year which are delivered via a successful intensive programme taught by swimming instructors.
Teachers will help pupils with SEND to overcome any barriers to participating and learning and make any ‘reasonable adjustments’ needed to include pupils. To make lessons inclusive, teachers will anticipate what barriers to taking part and learning may pose for pupils with SEND. Some modifications or adjustments will be made or smaller steps to achieve the learning goal. Occasionally, pupils with SEND will have to work on different activities, or towards different learning intentions, from their peers.
In EYFS, all areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. These are stipulated in the ‘Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage’. The most relevant statements for PE are taken from the following areas of learning:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Physical Development
- Expressive Arts and Design
Assessment
Assessment is regarded as an integral part of teaching and learning and is a continuous process. There are planned opportunities within the curriculum plan to revisit learning from the current year but also previous year groups.
End of unit assessments are made against the unit objectives to inform future teaching.
We also use Absolute Education to record the percentages of children who are involved in PE and competitive sport in and out of school.
End of year assessment is reported on Itrack and features on the annual report to parents.
In EYFS, the level of development children should be expected to have attained by the end of the EYFS is defined by the early learning goals (ELGs). These are not used as a curriculum or in any way to limit the wide variety of rich experiences that are crucial to child development. Instead, the ELGs support teachers to make a holistic, best-fit judgement about a child’s development, and their readiness for year 1.
When assessing pupils with SEND, there will be carefully planned opportunities in order for them to demonstrate what they know and are able to do, using alternative means where necessary. Monitoring takes place throughout the year to make sure that all teachers are supported, and PE is being as productive as possible to allow all children to be physically literate.
The monitoring of the standards of children’s learning and the quality of learning and teaching of PE is the shared responsibility of the Senior Leadership Team and the subject leader. The work of the subject leader also involves supporting colleagues in the teaching of PE, being informed about current developments in the subject, and providing a strategic lead and direction for the subject in the school. A named member of the school governing body is briefed to overview the teaching of the PE in the school.
Culture
The culture in our school is that the Physical Education curriculum is there to strengthen personal health, develop one's physical capabilities, and apply the population's physical skills to the service of society.
Physical fitness is vitally important not just for the children in our school but moving forward into adulthood. The importance of physical activity for society is incredibly important and at our school we try to allow our pupils to understand this.
We value high quality CPD for staff and staff have had opportunities to attend CPD and observe specialist coaches. Three of our teachers are now accredited in Wild Tribe with the view that all teachers will be by the end of the next academic year.
Teachers will help pupils with SEND to overcome any barriers to participating and learning and make any ‘reasonable adjustments’ needed to include pupils. To make lessons inclusive, teachers will anticipate what barriers to taking part and learning may pose for pupils with SEND. Some modifications or adjustments will be made or smaller steps to achieve the learning goal. Occasionally, pupils with SEND will have to work on different activities, or towards different learning intentions, from their peers. For some activities, there may need to be a ‘parallel’ activity for pupils with SEND, so that they can work towards the same learning intentions as their peers, but in a different way.
Systems
In EYFS, all areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. These are stipulated in the ‘Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage’. The most relevant statements for PE are taken from the following areas of learning:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Physical Development
- Expressive Arts and Design
Reception
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Manage their own needs - personal hygiene
- Know and talk about the different factors that support overall health and wellbeing: -regular physical activity
Physical Development
- Revise and refine the fundamental movement skills they have already acquired: - rolling – running
- crawling – hopping
- walking – skipping
- jumping - climbing
- Progress towards a more fluent style of moving, with developing control and grace.
- Develop overall body-strength, balance, coordination and agility needed to engage successfully with future physical education sessions and other physical disciplines, including dance, gymnastics, sport and swimming.
- Use their core muscle strength to achieve a good posture when sitting at a table or sitting on the floor.
- Combine different movements with ease and fluency.
- Confidently and safely use a range of large and small apparatus indoors and outdoors, alone and in a group.
- Develop overall body strength, balance, coordination and agility
Expressive Art and Design
- Explore, use and refine a variety of artistic effects to express their ideas and feelings.
- Return to and build on their previous learning, refining ideas and developing their ability to represent them.
- Create collaboratively, sharing ideas, resources and skills.
- Listen attentively, move to and talk about music, expressing their feelings and responses.
- Watch and talk about dance and performance art, expressing their feelings and responses.
- Explore and engage in music making and dance, performing solo or in groups.
ELG
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Managing Self
- Be confident to try new activities and show independence, resilience and perseverance in the face of a challenge.
- Explain the reasons for rules, know right from wrong and try to behave accordingly.
- Manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs, including dressing.
Building Relationships
- Work and play cooperatively and take turns with others.
Physical Development
Gross Motor Skills
- Negotiate space and obstacles safely, with consideration for themselves and others.
- Demonstrate strength, balance and coordination when playing.
- Move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping, skipping, and climbing.
Expressive Arts and Design
Being Imaginative and Expressive
- Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and (when appropriate) try to move in time with music.
The national curriculum for physical education 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.
KS1 pupils should be taught to:
- Master basic movements including running, jumping, throwing and catching, as well as developing balance, agility and co-ordination, and begin to apply these in a range of activities.
- Participate in team games, developing simple tactics for attacking and defending.
- Perform dances using simple movement patterns.
KS2 pupils should be taught to:
- Use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in combination.
- Play competitive games, modified where appropriate [for example, badminton, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, netball, rounders and tennis], and apply basic principles suitable for attacking and defending.
- Develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance [for example, through athletics and gymnastics]
- Perform dances using a range of movement patterns.
- Take part in outdoor and adventurous activity challenges both individually and within a team.
- Compare their performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best.
By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study.
At Windmill Hill Academy, we use the Arena curriculum units which our planning and teaching of PE is based on.
See the knowledge and skills organiser for PE which demonstrates the progression through the year groups.
Policies/key documents
- Whole School Long term horizontal curriculum map
- PE Knowledge and Skills organiser
- EYFS Long term overview
- Arena units and resources
- Diamond assessment sheets
- Absolute Education
- Sports Premium spending map (see Sports Premium section)
- SEND Policy
All of these can be found on our website under the curriculum/policies tab.