"Intelligence and skill can only function at the peak of their capacity when their body is healthy and strong."

- John F. Kennedy

Curriculum Intent

At St. Patrick’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, we believe that Physical Education (PE), experienced in a safe and supportive environment, is essential to ensure children attain optimum physical and emotional development and good health, where they lead healthy and active lives.

Through our Physical Education, we aim to develop children’s knowledge, skills and understanding, so that they can perform with increasing confidence and competence in a range of physical activities. We will support our children’s health and well-being by promoting active participation, creating opportunities for the children to compete in sports competitions and other activities. Encouraging our children to build their characters and develop values such as cooperation, collaboration, as well as working as part of an effective team, understanding fairness and respect to embed an enthusiasm for fitness and understanding the importance of a good diet and exercise.

Our intention, in Physical Education, by providing a range of sporting activities, including; invasion games, net and wall games, strike and field games, gymnastics, dance, swimming, fitness and outdoor adventure, is to support our children to fulfil their potential through the delivery of high-quality teaching and learning opportunities.

We aim to ensure that children experience Physical Education in a positive and motivating manner, which inspires all children to try their best and to recognise success in their physical abilities, becoming physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. We aim to help our children to keep healthy through promoting healthy lifelong habits, as well as safe by teaching them the essential skill of swimming.

Implementation

Physical Education at St. Patrick’s Catholic Voluntary Academy is taught using the Primary PE Planning scheme, which we have adapted to create our own bespoke version for our children and their learning needs. We are confident that our Physical Education Curriculum meets and exceeds the National Curriculum requirements.

The intended Physical Education Curriculum is outlined in our long-term yearly overviews and shared with parents. As well as breaking down these learning intentions further on the Physical Education Content Subject Organiser which identifies the intended learning and end points for each year group and unit of work. This is also available for our parents to view.

All our children, regardless of need, have two one-hour weekly dedicated PE lessons, taught by their teacher or a specialist coach. Our parents support maximising our learning time by sending their children to school wearing their PE kit on PE days, as this avoids the children taking learning time to change.

We teach lessons so that children –

• Have fun and experience success in sport. 
• Have the opportunity to participate in PE, being physically active for sustained periods of time at their own level of development.
• Secure and build on a broad range of physical activities and skills. 
• Develop good sporting abilities. 
• Understand basic rules. 
• Experience positive competition in sports and activities. 
• Learn in a safe environment.

Children in Key Stage 2 attend weekly swimming lessons, usually in Year 4, where they are taught to swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of 25m using a range of strokes.

In all PE lessons, we utilise the children’s language development, allowing and ensuring further opportunities to develop language skills across the whole curriculum. With clear progression documents in Vocabulary and Skills identified from the Early Years to Year 6, ensuring our children are ready for the Key Stage 3 Physical Education curriculum.

Enrichment Opportunities

Our PE Curriculum in enriched in a variety of ways, particularly through, the Year 6 Residential, as well as a range of After-School clubs. 

Children are also given the opportunity to attend arranged competitions and activities to enhance learning in our school by outside agencies, athletics, coaches and specialists, as well as visiting the English Institute of Sport and Ponds Forge International Swimming Pool.

Impact

By the time our children leave St. Patrick’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, they will have experienced an enjoyable Physical Education curriculum, in which they have met and exceeded the National Curriculum Aims.

Through our bespoke Physical Education Curriculum, every child will have access to all of the key areas of the subject, with careful consideration to any potential barriers to learning. They will have received a carefully sequenced, coherent, broad and balanced Physical Education, with a clear progression of skills and knowledge that ensures all children can access learning at an appropriate level.

In EYFS, children will have improved their fundamental movement skills and developed their agility, balance and coordination.

In Key Stage 1, children will continue to develop their fundamental movement skills and extend their agility, balance and coordination. They will engage in competitive and cooperative physical activities through games, dance and gymnastics.

In Key Stage 2, children will continue to apply and develop a broader range of skills such as running, jumping, throwing and catching. These skills are further incorporated into competitive games, performances using movement patterns and evaluations of their own and others’ work. Children will communicate and collaborate with each other, developing an understanding of how to improve in physical activities.

Through careful teacher assessment, dialogue with parents and our bespoke, adaptive curriculum, our children will be challenged on individual levels to fulfil their potential, challenging themselves and enjoying taking responsibility for their own development within Physical Education.