Intent

The Primary National Curriculum (2014) for PE states; 

‘A high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. It should provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. Opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.’ 

We believe the purpose of Physical Education is to develop children’s enjoyment and skill in physical activity and to introduce them to the pleasures of sport.  

Physical Education at Elmtree promotes personal, social, intellectual and physical skills and fosters co-operation, tolerance and self-esteem. Physical activity not only improves health, reduces stress and improves concentration, but also promotes correct physical growth and development. Exercise has a positive influence on academic achievement, emotional stability and interaction with others. We aim to ensure both teachers and children are aware of its importance. We provide the broad and balanced programme of physical education we believe every child should have; with activities designed to be enjoyable, challenging, and achievable. We use Create PE to enable children to develop their fundamental skills; agility, balance and co-ordination and give opportunities to apply these skills in competitive situations, individual and within a team. At Elmtree School, every teacher is a teacher of SEND. As such, inclusion is a thread that runs through every area of the school. 

We have weekly Wild Woods sessions where children can apply their skills in an outdoor environment and continue to develop their fine and gross motor skills in different situations. This is particularly important for our children as we recognise many of them do not have opportunities to explore their physical literacy in outdoor environments.  

The aims of our PE curriculum are:   

• Follow a broad and balanced PE curriculum fulfilling the demands of the National Curriculum. 

• To develop the fitness of the individual, by ensuring a good pace in lessons and incorporating fitness activities into physical education lessons as appropriate. 

• Develop the desire to improve and succeed. 

• Develop programmes that meet the needs of all the children, providing equal opportunities – inclusion of SEN and physical disabilities. 

• Involve the outside community where possible - e.g. Sports Day - parents, Clubs, Inter-school matches – working alongside other local schools. 

• Make allowances for children with disabilities and medical conditions through modified and mini versions of games and practices. 

• Provide enjoyable experiences, where positive attitudes of sensitivity, co- operation, competition and tolerance may develop. 

Our PE Curriculum, along with PSHE and Science, teaches children about the importance of healthy living and learning about the need for good nutrition. This enables children to take their knowledge forwards in becoming a balanced citizen. 

Implementation 

Our PE curriculum ensures that we meet the requirements of the National Curriculum and is specifically tailored to our children. We follow the PE ‘Create Development’ scheme of work. This includes 6 different ‘Units’, each covering a different ‘Cognitive Focus and Learning Journey’ and a set of ‘Fundamental Movement Skills’. Each ‘Unit’ is broken down into a series of lessons to be delivered each half term. Each year group has a pack of guidance to support their work in these areas and each member of teaching staff has access to an online ‘Create Development’ portal. This is to help with planning and to ensure progression. 

PE is taught by the class teacher to the whole class with activities in smaller groups or for individual children. Differentiation is mostly by outcome, expectations vary according to the ability and skill of individual children, both the less able and those more talented in PE. 

• EYFS Nursery – Nursery has fine and gross motor provision in the learning environment as well as an outside area that is accessible for most of the day. They also have a weekly PE session.  

• EYFS Reception - Reception have 1 x 1 hour PE lesson and 1 x 2hours Wild Woods sessions a fortnight. Other opportunities for physical development are planned in each week according to the EYFS profile objectives.  

• KS1 - 1 x 1 hour PE lessons per week and 1 x 2 hours Wild Woods sessions a fortnight.   

Our PE curriculum is sequenced precisely to ensure progression of knowledge and skills throughout a child’s primary education, thus enabling children to build upon prior experiences and apply these fluently, with confidence.  We endeavour to provide a broad range of activities based on children’s interests and new initiatives, whilst also working with parents to identify when a child has an interest and or a clear talent in a specific sport.  Our provision of Wild Woods links to the aims of PE in the national curriculum by enabling children to be physically active for sustained periods of time, give practical modelling of how to lead healthy, active lives, apply their learnt skills to a range of activities and help to embed values such as fairness and respect. It also enables us to continue the progression of fine motor skills through the focussed activities. Teachers have access to a scheme of work called ‘wild passport’ to support their planning. This scheme plans for progression in 5 areas of outside skill; woodcraft, nature, fire, shelter and rope. Pupils will complete a focussed activity in one of these areas during the session before exploring the woodland around them using learnt skills. We believe this contributes to the cultural capital of the child as all children will go onto live a life where they will have opportunity to go outside. Building these skills enables pupils to feel empowered by activities they can undertake when independent, increasing the likelihood they will lead active lives. We recognise that many of the pupils at Elmtree do not have access to this outdoor development in their home lives and strive to enable them to access it here.  

Physical Education is fundamental in developing healthy lifestyles in young people. We have an inclusive approach and value the importance of physical and mental well-being.  

We have an annual sports day and sponsor day to foster enjoyment and celebrate achievement. Through the School Sports Partnership, KS1 and Reception are provided with a range of opportunities including taking part in festivals and competitions. Teachers are also able to develop their own subject knowledge of PE through observing PE lessons delivered by specialist PE coaches/lessons throughout the year. This is supported by the DCHS sports partnership.    

At the beginning of Reception, children are put into House Teams (Lowndes, Wendover, Chiltern, Pednor and Waterside). They remain in these teams until the end of Year 2. Children are able to win tokens for their house teams for different reasons, e.g excellent participation, resilience and determination within PE lessons/Interhouse festivals. Tokens are counted up at the end of each week and a house reward is given. Teaching staff are also allocated a house team to make events even more exciting and to encourage a positive, competitive spirit across the whole school! 

Playtimes are an important part of our pupils being happy, healthy and ready to learn. We have a well-staffed and equipped playground with trim trail which provide opportunities for children to develop and improve fundamental skills whilst being active during break and lunchtimes. The patio playground allows pupils in the EYFS to have their own outside area to develop these skills. 

Impact  

Children are assessed informally throughout the PE lessons to ensure appropriate activities. Assessment data for PE is recorded every half term against the movement skill objectives on each ‘Fun Card’. At the end of the year comments are made in each child's report to reflect their achievements in PE and the information is passed onto the children’s next class teacher to ensure they plan lessons to the ability they had achieved with the skills from the previous year.   As Wild Woods is primarily linked to the broader aspects of PE it is assessed holistically at the end of the year. We consider pupils ability to co-operate in physical activities, if they can maintain a level of physical activity for a time, their willingness to participate in new activities and their fine and gross co-ordination. 

From our lessons, our children learn to take responsibility for their own health and fitness. We equip our children with the necessary skills and a love for sport. They will hopefully grow up to live happy and healthy lives utilising the skills and knowledge acquired through PE. We reflect regularly on the sequence to ensure we tailer the curriculum to different cohorts, especially in light of the pandemic where children did not have as much access to physical education. 

 Sports Premium,  this grant is given to help improve the quality of PE and sport in schools.  It must be used to fund PE activities.

Reception attend a Winter Olympics at Chiltern Hills Academy, Year 1  are introduced to the skill of orienteering and Year 2 enjoy learning the rules of dodgeball.  In addition the whole school has been involved in sports challenges which have included skipping activities and walking all he way to Rio.  

In our school we have "Elmtree Houses".  Each child is allocated a coloured team - Red, Green, Yellow or Blue.  Each team has the opportunity to collect matching coloured tokens.   The tokens may be awarded for teamwork, kindness, respect and participation across the curriculum.  Each half term the team with the most tokens will receive a reward.  This will encourage competition between "Houses" and foster pride, teamwork and co-operation.

To find out more visit our PE and Sport Premium page