Physical Education Intent

At St John’s CE Primary School, we aim to provide a well- balanced curriculum which covers the statutory requirements of the PE National Curriculum. In the EYFS, opportunities are provided for children to be active and to develop their co-ordination, control and movement through moving and handling activities that involve the use of a range of equipment and involve different spatial experiences.

We value the importance of Physical Education at St John’s so to ensure our lessons are effective and provide the right amount of challenge, all of our lessons in KS1 and KS2 are led by a qualified sports coach or a class teacher. Our EYFS children have the opportunity to be physically active all day, every day. We have developed a deliberately challenging outdoor area for them to use, including a fitness trail with balance beams and monkey bars, and an EYFS area with a climbing wall, rope swing and tree climbing. Whatever the weather, our children are able to burn off some energy outdoors at St John’s.

In KS1, pupils participate in a minimum of 1 hour of high quality PE a week.  These lessons focus on fundamental movement skills to develop agility, balance and co-ordination. Curriculum content includes ball skills and team games, gymnastics and dance activities.

In KS2, pupils participate in a minimum of 2 hours of high quality PE a week. These lessons continue to apply and develop a range of skills and units of work including a range of invasion, net / wall, fielding and striking games, gymnastics, dance, athletics and swimming. We also enrich children’s experiences through opportunities for outdoor and adventurous activities.

Teachers use schemes of work focusing on each of the key skills and cross- curricular links to other subjects are made whenever possible. Each lesson is adapted to challenge pupils and provide opportunity for children of all abilities to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of each key area.

Intra- school competitions and festivals are planned at the end of each unit, allowing pupils to experience sport with other pupils from different classes.

Christian Values, Cultural Capital and Pupil Premium enhancements

We believe that through the variety of opportunities that PE offers, children can develop a sense of personal achievement, fair play and teamwork. We plan a range of activities that encourage children to develop their creative and expressive abilities, through improvisation and problem-solving. They are taught to appreciate the importance of a healthy and fit body, and begin to understand those factors that affect health and fitness.

At St John’s, we provide children with new, adventurous activities through our PE curriculum. This year, KS2 are participating in a variety of off-site activities including rock climbing, tennis, swimming and gymnastics. As well as these sessions in PE time, we offer our children the chance to be competitive in physical activity through a variety of competitive sports locally.

All children are encouraged to join clubs and extend their interest and involvement in sport. As well as this, children also have the opportunity to participate in school competitions.

The specific skills and knowledge taught in Physical Education are detailed in our Skill Progression and Knowledge Progression documents.  If you wish to see these, please ask your child's class teacher.