St Anne's Catholic Primary School

The physical education curriculum is designed by the curriculum co-ordinator, management team and governors to allow pupils to transfer key skills to their long-term memory. The fundamental skills, knowledge and concepts for physical education are outlined in the National Curriculum where they are categorised into six areas of activities, these are games, gymnastics, dance, athletics, swimming and outdoor and adventurous activities to ensure breadth, balance, continuity and progression. This results in building new skills and knowledge based upon what has been taught before, allowing all pupils to work towards clearly defined end points.

Physical Education develops pupils’ physical competence and confidence and their ability to use these to perform in a range of activities.  It promotes skilfulness, physical development and knowledge of the body in action.  Physical Education provides opportunities for pupils to be creative, competitive, co-operative and face up to different challenges as individuals and in groups and teams.

It promotes positive attitudes toward healthy and active lifestyles.  Pupils learn how to think in different ways to suit a wide variety of creative, competitive, cooperative and challenging activities. They learn how to plan, perform and evaluate actions, ideas and performances to improve their aptitudes, abilities, preferences and make choices about how to get involved in lifelong physical activity.

We develop children’s experiences and understanding of physical education by providing children with memorable learning opportunities within school, afterschool and within the wider community. For example, Sports Day, inter-house competitions, after-school clubs and inter-school competitions. The school provides a coherently planned curriculum, sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge, skills and cultural capital through informative teaching and learning activities and enhancement experiences.

We therefore intend that all pupils will:

•  Be physically active and find enjoyment in a wide variety of physical activities.
• Feel a sense of privilege from the opportunity to use and improve their bodies.
• Find a lasting sense of purpose, achievement and fulfilment in physical activity.
• Develop physical skills, habits and interests that will promote a healthy lifestyle and good posture.
• Develop positive attitudes to physical endeavour including perseverance, fair play and sporting behaviour, and the ability to cope with success and failure.
• Understand the effects that physical exercise has upon the body in the long and short term.
• Understand the need for safe practice in physical activities and know how to achieve this.
• Develop gross and fine motor skills through a programme that enables children to improve and refine their performance.
• Understand the importance of warming up and cooling down.
• Work in a variety of settings including partner, small group and team level activities.
• Be mindful of others and the environment in which they practise.
• Recognise and follow relevant rules, laws, codes, etiquette and safety procedures for different activities or events, in practice and during competition.
• Learn to plan, perform and evaluate actions, ideas and performances to improve their quality and effectiveness. Through this process pupils discover their aptitudes, abilities and preferences, and make choices about how to get involved in lifelong physical activity.
• Develop an understanding of the importance of healthy eating for optimal physical performance.
• Focus, build-upon and learn key vocabulary to develop understanding of concepts fundamental skills and physical education knowledge.
• Build in memorable experiences to promote deep learning.