At the Grove Primary School, we aim to give children the best PESSPA opportunities we can. We strongly believe that PESSPA can help build skills such as stamina, determination, competitiveness, willingness, team-work and enthusiasm which we all know can be used across a wide range of other subjects but also in wider life. We believe that PESSPA is a vital part of school life and our children’s well-being. We aim to provide a safe and supportive environment as well as an inclusive, broad and balanced PE curriculum that ensures all children will benefit This could be through enhancing existing skills, learning new skills or being introduced to new sports, clubs, teams and organisations. All children should have the opportunity to enjoy being physically active.
We ensure children understand the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and try to equip them with the tools to do so, through the teaching of PESSPA. Children must understand how to take care of themselves both mentally and physically. We believe that participating in PESSPA is a key element of a school where pupils are proud of the community in which they belong. Therefore, great emphasis is placed upon additional sporting opportunities beyond lessons, with after-school clubs, in-school and inter-school competitions, and festivals.
Implementation
Pupils receive two hours of timetabled PE per week through which we develop areas of activity as set out in the National Curriculum – Dance; Games; Gymnastics; Athletics; Outdoor and Adventurous activities; Swimming. Children are given the opportunity to swim during KS2 and we aim for all pupils leaving the school to be able to swim at least 25m. Sports taught throughout school include football; tag rugby; netball; basketball; cricket; hockey and tennis, as well as athletics, gymnastics and dance. We aim to teach the children the rules of the sports, but we also aim to teach them skills that can be used across multiple sports such as invasion skills for attack and defence, ball skills, jumping, throwing, catching and running. Learning the skills is just as important as learning the sport itself. All pupils take part in a range of tournaments and sports festivals both within school between year groups and with other schools. We have weekly sports extra-curricular clubs including; dodgeball, dance, gymnastics and multi-sports. PE is taught through both the use of external coaches and members of school staff.
Early Years
We recognise the importance of physical development in the Early Years Foundation Stage. A child’s physical development and active play not only contributes to their future health and well-being but also supports all other areas of their cognitive, social and emotional learning.
In the statutory framework for the early years foundation stage, physical development is one of the prime areas of learning and development. As a prime area it also helps to develop personal and social skills, self-confidence, social interaction, turn taking and getting along with others.
Physical development is also known as motor development. A child’s physical or motor development falls into two categories: Fine motor skills and gross motor skills. As part of their physical development, children in Early Years are given opportunities to:
- develop good control and co-ordination in large and small movements.
- practise moving in a range of ways, safely negotiating space.
- demonstrate strength, balance and coordination when playing;
- learn about the importance of physical exercise for good health, and a healthy diet,
- talk about ways to keep healthy and safe.
Children in Early Years Foundation stage also develop their physical competence through the following:
Active learning (daily)
- active play
- fine and gross motor skills (both as interventions and during ‘free play’)
- dough disco
- outdoor provision
PE lessons
- Reception-2x per week to cover fundamentals, dance and gymnastics,
- Nursery-Summer 2 term
Forest School sessions
Reception-1 session per week
Key stage 1
Pupils should develop fundamental movement skills, become increasingly competent and confident and access a broad range of opportunities to extend their agility, balance and coordination, individually and with others. They should be able to engage in competitive (both against self and against others) and co-operative physical activities, in a range of increasingly challenging situations.
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.
Key stage 2
Pupils should continue to apply and develop a broader range of skills, learning how to use them in different ways and to link them to make actions and sequences of movement. They should enjoy communicating, collaborating and competing with each other. They should develop an understanding of how to improve in different physical activities and sports and learn how to evaluate and recognise their own success.
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.
Impact
In our school, we motivate children to participate in a range of sports which are fun, engaging and help children to develop a range of skills. We encourage children to apply these skills and their knowledge during PE lessons, but we also provide children with the confidence to apply these skills into other sports, everyday activities and to many different life experiences both now and in their future. It is hoped that physical education will light a love of sport and physical activity and will motivate our children to take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing, inspiring them to lead a happy and healthy life. Through our Physical Education curriculum, we believe we can equip children with skills in team building, promote physical and mental health and boost confidence and resilience.
Forest Schools
Within school we are very lucky to have a number of trained practitioners within a natural environment (Forest Schools Leaders.) These leaders will work within classes throughout the year leading forest school session (not necessarily in a forest!) both within our school grounds and in our local area. Each Forest School programme is tailored to meet the needs of individuals within that group and is continuously developed as the children grow in confidence, skills and understanding.
Forest School supports a child’s physical development by:
- enabling them to be active in an outdoor, natural environment
- developing their understanding of the importance of outdoor activities and how they link to their well-being
- increasing emotional wellbeing
- developing fine and gross motor skills and coordination through hand on, real life purposes,
Forest schools also supports the development of:
- levels of confidence,
- independence,
- teamwork,
- resilience and perseverance to achieve challenges set and to become committed and reflective learners.
Pupil Voice
“Running and jumping. You can run and jump and it makes you strong.” Oscar
“I just like it when we go outside and play basketball, putting it in the hoop. I like P.E cos it makes you exercise and it makes you healthy.” Olivia
“P.E is fun”-Fion
“I really like P.E and it’s a fun way to exercise. Exercise helps your body to stay healthy.” Ella
“I like P.E cos we play games.” Layton
“It keeps our bones nice and healthy.” Jack
“It’s fun.” Kacper
“I like doing dodgeball in P.E. It’s a high energy sport. You need to have skill and energy to do it. P.E keeps us healthy and strong.” Lucy
“P.E is fun. It gets you warmed up. It’s really good exercise for you. Because if you don’t exercise your bones won’t function properly.” Megan
PE Long Term Overview 2023-2024
Progression of skills documents:
PE Striking and Fielding progression
PE Net and Wall games progression
