PE Curriculum Statement

Intent 

At Verwood First School and Nursery, we aim to inspire children to develop and sustain positive attitudes towards physical activity, giving them the tools and understanding to sustain physical activity throughout their lives and therefore positively impacting upon their physical and mental wellbeing. Our PE curriculum includes opportunities for learning to move (become more physically competent) and moving to learn (learning skills through movement). We aim to provide pupils with a range of sport and physical activity opportunities through our curriculum and wider curriculum to increase self-confidence in a range of movements and activities, including individual, team, co-operative and competitive situations (learning to move). We believe that Physical Education, Physical Activity and School Sport have the potential to teach and develop transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, perseverance and respect and feel that, through their positive relationships with children, teachers are well placed to develop these skills (moving to learn). The 6Rs continue to be an important aspect of PE and we aim to educate children as to how the Rs, or the capacities related to them, are an important aspect of PE. We also recognise the importance of PE to children’s physical, cognitive, social and emotional development as well as the role it can play in their spiritual, moral and cultural development.

Implementation

Our PE provision is informed by the national curriculum and we provide a range of activities and topics in order to work towards achieving the key objectives highlighted in our curriculum maps. Key objectives in each year group have been identified within our progression of skills documents and the curriculum is planned to ensure that children are building upon prior skills and understanding. 

PE forms an integral and statutory element of a pupil’s entitlement to learning and we ensure that all pupils can engage with PE learning and develop physical skills and positive attitudes towards physical activity. The PE curriculum at Verwood First School is carefully designed and structured to ensure that learning is progressive and provides children with ample opportunity to practice and refine their skills before applying them to different situations.  The majority of PE lessons are taught using Get Set 4 PE, a scheme used in order to ensure consistency of PE teaching within and across year groups. Our curriculum also identifies the transferable skills (e.g. teamwork, perseverance, communication) that we expect children to learn at different stages of their learning journey, building upon and deepening their understanding of these skills across year groups and key stages. Children are also guided towards recognising the effects that exercise has on their bodies and the positive impacts that it can have. 

Teaching and learning in PE is interactive and practical, allowing children to work independently, in pairs, in groups or in teams, in both co-operative and competitive situations. During PE lessons, children have opportunities to exploremovements and skills and are encouraged to try, fail, repeat and refine these through short, concise inputs or feedback.  Learning tasks are designed to provide appropriate challenge to all learners, including further challenge opportunities for rapid graspers and additional support and guidance to those who require it, in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion. Previous learning is reviewed in each lesson, swiftly reinforcing teaching points and key vocabulary from previous lessons either verbally or through demonstration. Children are also encouraged to make links between fundamental skills by identifying contexts in which they may have used skills previously.  

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) follows the DfE Statutory Framework which identifies the vital role that physical activity plays in children’s all-round development, enabling them to lead happy, healthy and active lives. EYFS provide opportunities for physical development through a range of games and play activities, supporting children to develop strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, coordination and agility as well as providing opportunities for fine and gross motor development. 

At Verwood First School, we are committed to the continued professional development of staff in PE and utilise specialist coaches to increase confidence and competence of teachers in their PE teaching and of teaching assistants when supporting children in PE lessons. 

Impact

At Verwood First school, through high quality first teaching of PE we motivate children to participate in a range of sports and physical activities that are engaging and fun. Throughout their learning journey, children work towards refining both physical and transferable skills and we inspire them to use skills acquired in PE in a range of competitive and non-competitive situations. Children learn to take responsibility for their own health and fitness, developing positive attitudes towards physical activity and leading them towards leading happy and healthy lifestyles. By the time they get to Key Stage 2, children are eager to attend competitions where they demonstrate their abilities to combine a range of skills and use simple tactics when playing competitive games, rooted in mutual respect and demonstrating fairplay, teamwork, problem solving and communication Pupil voice suggests that pupils enjoy PE and pupils at our school make good progress.