PE at Woodrow 

Intent

At Woodrow First School we recognise the importance PE plays in the curriculum and are committed to providing all children with opportunities to engage fully in Physical Education. The aim of our PE programme is to develop children's basic physical competencies, build confidence in their ability and build the foundations for a lifelong love of sport, physical activity and a healthy lifestyle. PE lessons encourage children to compete against themselves and others whilst being challenged to improve their physical, social, emotional and thinking skills. These skills are embedded in the heart of our planning.

Our objectives in the teaching of PE align with the National Curriculum in that we aim to ensure 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

Our curriculum is designed in a way which builds excitement for Physical Education that inspires a curiosity and willingness to learn and develop skills so children can apply these in a competitive environment. The curriculum has been designed in line with the National Curriculum as a starting point and extends children’s exposure to sports in readiness for Key Stage 3 and adult life. This high-quality, inclusive curriculum is rich, varied, imaginative and ambitious and meets the needs of all individual learners.

Implementation

Curriculum

Our PE lessons are planned and taught by class teachers using the Get Set 4 PE platform, which aligns with our core values, our whole child approach to PE and the objectives laid out in the National Curriculum. Get Set 4 PE is planned so that progression is built into the scheme which ensures our children are increasingly challenged as they move up through the school. 

Early Years is the first opportunity to develop our children’s curiosity for Physical Education. We implement our PE curriculum by following the interests of the children through the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework and the Get Set 4 PE planning. This aims to guide children to make sense of the way they move and develop confidence through activities that offer appropriate physical challenge, both indoors and outdoors, using a wide range of resources to support specific skills.

In Key Stage 1, the physical development skills are further built upon as children are introduced to new learning. Children build on the fundamental skills taught in EYFS and aim to master the basic skill movements such as running, throwing, jumping and catching as well as beginning to develop balance, agility and coordination. Children are introduced to team games as well as individual sports. Basic tactics are introduced to the children as well as competitive sports, whether that be competing against other children, teams or themselves. This ensures a firm foundation and understanding of physical education, ready for Key Stage 2. 

In Key Stage 2, the physical education curriculum is delivered to continue applying and developing a broader range of skills, learning how to use them in different ways and to link them to make actions and sequences of movement. Children enjoy communicating, collaborating, and competing within physical education lessons and inter and intra school competitions. Children will develop an understanding of how to improve in different physical activities and sports and learn how to evaluate and recognise their own success, preparing them for middle school where pupils will build on and embed the physical development and skills learned in key stages 1 and 2, becoming more competent, confident and expert in their techniques. Children will develop the confidence and interest to get involved in exercise, sports and activities out of school and in later life and understand how to apply the long term health benefits of physical activity to their adult life.

All of our children receive a minimum of a term and a half of curriculum based swimming lessons throughout their time at Woodrow, with Early Years having weekly swimming lessons.  

Assessment of skills are carried out lesson by lesson. The Get Set 4 P.E. scheme has clear success criteria for each lesson enabling staff to identify skills acquired and plan future lessons to build on these. Children are encouraged to peer assess, offering constructive feedback to aid further development during each lesson. These judgements will be quality assured by subject leaders using first-hand evidence of how pupils are doing, drawing together evidence from lesson observations, evidence through photographs and pupil voice to monitor ongoing progress. Assessments will inform the curriculum and whether children are ready for the next stage in the curriculum.

Other opportunities at Woodrow

• Our children have the opportunity to access extra-curricular sporting activities three times a week. These sessions aim to give children access to a wide variety of sports that they may not have access to outside of school time such as tag rugby, athletics and boxing.
• Throughout the year our children are given the opportunities to participate in local festivals and competitions through the local pyramid and School Games Mark.

• Each year a small group of Year 4 children are invited to become Sports Leaders for the school. They develop into sporting role models for the younger children, assisting with lunch-time clubs, our annual Sports day and any other Sporting activities

Impact

Our Physical Education Curriculum is high quality, well sequenced and planned to demonstrate progression. The impact of this that the children will meet their age-appropriate skills in Physical Education and be able to transfer these skills into other sports and everyday activities. Children leave our school having a love of sport and physical activity both in and out of school, with this continuing into later life. Children will have worked on their own aspirations in relation to PE and this will be carried on after leaving in Year 4, with children continuing to participate for enjoyment or competitively. All children should be able to discuss the importance of a healthy lifestyle and how this is achieved as well as developed skills that underpin life such as teamwork, sportsmanship, self-motivation, resilience and independence.

We enable children of all abilities to access our P.E curriculum.Teachers ensure inclusion in PE lessons through the application of the CSTEP principle (Communication, Space, Task, Equipment, People). Lessons can meet the needs of all pupils through adapting one or more elements of this principle e.g. pieces of equipment can make a task easier of harder. Additional scaffolding and resources are provided and changes to pedagogy or content are considered in consultation with the SENCO. Within the Get Set 4 P.E resource, differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required.