Physical Education

Intent

It is our intent at Redhill to give children opportunities to develop a love for physical education and to develop at least one life-long link to an activity, which they can take with them to high school and beyond.

As PE lead, I have designed an exciting and distinctive curriculum which links to the wide range of strengths that our staff team have and to meet the needs and wants of our children. We match all the national curriculum aims and children have 2 hours of PE a week. In addition to this, our activities are exciting and are centred around what the children requested during pupil voice questionnaires. We offer activities such as yoga, tri-golf, archery and even ultimate frisbee. Children are aware of what skills they will learn each year and we ensure that within phase groups, children have the chance to experience the activities that we can offer. Our staff team have a range of expertise, with two teachers being forest school trained, a yoga enthusiast, four trained coaches in activities such as football, hockey and basketball, who have taught PE lessons in a range of activities and two teachers with PE specific degrees. Our range of expertise allows the children to be taught in fun and inventive ways. This child and staff led curriculum, has been a huge hit with our children and proves to develop the love of Physical Education.

We employ a dance teacher from an outside group who has worked with our children for the last two years. Sarah is a key part of our team in school, coming in one day a week to work with children from Early Years all the way up to Year 6. Our children asked specifically for somebody to teach them modern dance and this is delivered with the support of our staff team. It is a huge hit!

Implementation

Our children can access a full range of activities and these build across year groups, with a long-term plan in place to allow all children to access activities such as Ultimate Frisbee and Boccia as they journey through the year groups.

Our children are assessed using a range of assessment tools developed in school to match the needs of our children. Our Personal Best Challenge is used to show individual progression for each child, focusing around the key skills we have identified. In Key Stage 1 we test throwing and catching, jumping and sprinting. In Key Stage 2 we build on this by testing flexibility and balance through hopping. We track this every half term, with assessment completed at the end of each half term, data is then tracked and progression mapped for each child. Our children who need some extra support, then receive interventions from this data. At the centre of all of this is the child, they develop their own personal best and they have access to their own scores and can see how well they progress. Our other assessment tool is also a progression tool for our teaching staff. The skills progression grid, is used to show how children progress through the different areas, such as invasion games from Year 1 up to Year 6. The teaching staff use this to structure their lessons and the children can see how they progress through the years. This grid is colour coded by the staff allowing them to see not only what has been covered but how the children have done with that specific skill. For example, it shows in Year 2 that children need ‘to be able to form a range of balances’ then in Year 3 they need ‘to be able to form a balance and then use a range of travelling techniques to move to their next balance’.

At break and lunchtimes we have staff all trained in playground games, they deliver activities that allow our children to be physically active in a fun and enjoyable way. We run activities such as skipping, football, target throwing, movement games and traditional playground games. Our children in Years 5 and 6 take part in a leaders course as part of their Physical Education curriculum, teaching them how to be an effective leader, how to create and adapt games before finally taking part in an interview to become a playground leader. The children take great pride in their job as a P.E Leader and they take on the job of helping others stay active at lunchtimes with structured games that they have created

Our extra-curricular clubs are offered to all children across the school from all year groups. On a Wednesday, we provide a club dedicated to children’s wellbeing. During this time, children take part collaboratively in a game of table tennis. This supports the children’s social skills and allows them a safe space to talk and learn a new skill. The clubs themselves are always adapting and matching our curriculum design as being exciting and distinctive but most importantly the activities are chosen by our children. We are also a very active school within the local area, allowing our children to attend events at other schools. We work with local high schools and primary schools, planning and then running events. Our children also can take part in competitions as part of our Schools Games work.

Impact

The impact on our children is that they are excited when they see P.E on the timetable for the day ahead. Our children leave school with a full range and knowledge of activities and the skills they need within every lesson. We use the personal best testing to ensure that all children are taught the key skills and leave school being proficient at these. We achieve this through accurate interventions based around what each child needs from their Personal Best Challenge. For example, if they were not progressing as well as they could in throwing and catching, at break and lunch times our staff would involve them in some throwing and catching games. This is also completed as a starter in PE lessons where the teacher can focus on one skill taken from their class results.

Our lunch and break times are a hive of activity, with a range of activities on offer and our children have grown to run their own games. Skipping is seen throughout the year groups, with the children themselves now picking up the ropes and singing traditional rhymes that they have been taught by our playground staff. Our lunchtime Sports Leaders are well trained to run activities with the support of the trained staff. They are having a huge impact on the behaviour and enjoyment of our children, as well as increasing their physical activity levels.

Outside of the school day, we have seen a huge increase in the amount of children attending our very popular extra-curricular activities. During the last year, we had over half of the school attend a club, with the children selecting themselves some different activities including a cross country club. We were very keen to continue our Schools Games commitment and this lead to a Silver Award, being followed last year by the Virtual Award, which we were awarded as a school for our continued dedication to physical activity during the lockdown. We are now aiming for Gold!

COVID -19 Statement

On return to school in September we completed a baseline assessment of all children in Years 2-6. This allowed us to identify gaps in the National Curriculum, we have then added this content onto our long term plan which will allow for catch up coverage to be complete by the end of the academic year 20/21 as well as being creative in the sports we are able to engage with in a COVID Safe manner.

The children in our school are aware of wellbeing, not only what it means but also how they can look after their own wellbeing, with healthy eating a large part of this. We have dedicated time during the day to focus on all of our wellbeing through guided meditation and using relaxation techniques.

We all enjoy teaching PE to the children at Redhill, they love to take part, play together as a team and learn as a class and individually the skills they need for the future.