Reviewed by: Eben Groenewald, Achievement Committee, Spring 2025
Next Review: Spring 2027
Overview
Physical Education (PE) contributes to the overall education of all children by helping them to lead full and valuable lives through engaging in purposeful and high-quality activity. It promotes active and healthy lifestyles, physical skills, physical development and knowledge of the body in action. PE enables children to learn confidence, perseverance, team spirit, positive competitiveness and organisation. Children must engage in a programme of PE that encourages fitness, improves their strength and teaches them the rules of games. PE is an integral part of school practices allowing all children in the school to gain a sense of achievement and develop positive attitudes towards themselves and others.
Policy Statement
At Kelvin Grove we believe that physical education has a vital and unique role to play in a child’s development. Our school aims to develop and promote physical literacy for all so that pupils have the motivation, confidence, physical competence and understanding to enjoy a physically active lifestyle whilst at school and beyond. Through good physical education, whole school values and a whole child approach, we aim to develop healthy minds as well as healthy bodies and are committed to using physical activity to support pupil well-being. As part of the PE curriculum, our pupils experience a wide range of individual, partner and team activities. The range of physical activities we provide includes athletics, invasion games, gymnastics, dance and swimming. As pupils progress through the year groups, we use our curriculum to provide opportunities for personal improvement as well as intra and inter-school competition.
In the Early Years and Foundation Stage (EYFS), we endeavour to develop gross motor skills such as balance, coordination, stability and strength through games and outdoor play.
In Key Stage 1, pupils develop basic movements such as running, jumping, throwing, catching and striking which we believe gives them a good foundation of skills which can then be applied across a range of sports and mini games. In early gymnastics and dance, we focus on learning, exploring and performing simple movement patterns with coordination and control.
In Key Stage 2, pupils continue to develop fundamental movement skills in the context of a range of sports and invasion games such as gymnastics, dance, basketball, tag rugby, hockey and athletics. Key Stage 2 pupils build on knowledge and experience from Key Stage 1 to further develop tactical skills, improve their individual and team performances, and apply their skills in a wider range of activities.
We offer a number of extra-curricular clubs: mini athletics, hockey, football, basketball, netball, cheerleading and street dance.
Curriculum Aims
Through a high quality, safe and challenging physical education programme, the school aims to develop successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens who develop as independent enquirers, creative thinkers, reflective learners, team workers, self-managers and effective participators.
- Provide a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum that satisfies the needs of the current National Curriculum and provide pupils with appropriate challenge with acceptable risk
- Develop a whole school approach to physical development which takes pupils through progressive stages of learning and challenge, enabling them to fulfil their potential, develop competence and control in the gross and fine motor skills that pupils need to take part in PE and sport.
- Educate pupils about, and involve them in, the process of risk management, so that they understand their responsibility in this, in order for them to participate independently in physical activity and to establish good habits and awareness of safety and personal hygiene
- Ensure pupils have the opportunity to demonstrate that they know and understand how to apply their competence and make appropriate decisions for themselves by challenging pupils to select and use skills, tactics and compositional ideas
- Provide pupils with opportunities to use imaginative ways to express and communicate ideas, solve problems and overcome challenges, both as individuals and as part of a team or group
- Ensure pupils understand that PE and sport are an important part of a healthy, active lifestyle and understand the contribution physical activity has on having a healthy body and mind.
- Develop pupils’ stamina, suppleness, strength and the mental capacity (determination and resilience) to keep going.
- Develop an environment in which pupils have the confidence to get involved in PE and sport and are committed to make it a central part of their lives both in and out of school
- Provide an out of school hours programme of activities which extends and enriches curriculum provision and provides opportunity for activities to enable pupils to make sufficient progress to access curriculum sessions with greater success
- Provide opportunities for competition appropriate to the stage of the individual pupil’s development
- Ensure that pupils enjoy PE and school sport and establish community links and pathways for pupils to engage in life-long participation
- Provide links to other areas of the curriculum and wider school, county and national agendas
All pupils are entitled to a progressive and comprehensive physical education programme which embraces current Statutory Orders of the National Curriculum and takes into account individual interests and needs.
Pupils should have access to all components of current National Curriculum programmes of study, which should include developing fundamental movement and basic skills in a broad range of activities in both KS1 and KS2 so that a realistic attempt is made to achieve the expected levels of performance.
The planning and delivery of each unit of work will ensure that each pupil will have the opportunity to:
- acquire and develop new skills
- select and apply appropriate skills, tactics and compositional ideas
- evaluate their own and others’ performance in order to improve
- gain knowledge and understanding of how PE and sport contributes to staying physically, mentally and emotionally healthy
- experience a range of roles – performer/coach/official/leader
- planning will provide opportunities to link with other areas of the curriculum e.g. ICT, literacy, numeracy, PSHE and SMSC
Swimming and Water Safety
The National Curriculum states that all schools must provide swimming instruction either in key stage 1 or key stage 2.
In particular, pupils should be taught to:
- swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
- use a range of strokes effectively [for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke]
- perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.
Each year we publish how many children in Year 6 have developed the above skills on our website: Year 6 Swimming Competencies
Children in Year 4 will swim every afternoon for a two week block annually.
Teaching and learning
Our PE lessons are planned using the Get Set 4 PE platform, which aligns with our core values, our whole child approach to PE and the objectives laid out in the National Curriculum. Get Set 4 PE is planned so that progression is built into the scheme which ensures our children are increasingly challenged as they move up through the school.
The curriculum planning in PE is carried out in three phases (long-term, medium-term and short term). The long-term plan maps out the PE activities covered in each term during the key stage. The PE subject leader works this out in conjunction with teaching colleagues and pupils in each year group. Together we create a broad and balanced curriculum that is exciting for our children to learn through. Our medium-term plans give details of each unit of work for each term. These schemes of work provide an overview of the unit, links to other areas of the National Curriculum and assessment criteria for that unit. The short-term lesson plans provide opportunities for children of all abilities to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding in each activity area.
EYFS
We encourage the physical development of our children in the nursery and reception class as an integral part of their work. As these classes are part of the Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum, we relate the physical development of the children to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals, which underpin the curriculum planning for children aged three to five years of age.
We encourage the children to develop confidence and control of the way they move, and the way they handle tools and equipment. We give all children the opportunity to undertake activities that offer appropriate physical challenge, both indoors and outdoors, using a wide range of resources to support specific skills.
Assessment
Our teachers assess the children’s work in PE, both by making informal judgements, as they observe them during lessons, and through assessing against the specific objectives set out in the National Curriculum and recorded using the Get Set 4 PE assessment software. We have clear expectations of what the pupils will know, understand and be able to do at the end of each Key
Stage. Teachers are supported with resources to know how to prepare children for their next phase of education. These resources include the Get Set 4 PE progression of skills document, progression ladders and knowledge organisers.
Monitoring and Reviewing
The planning and coordination of the teaching of PE is the responsibility of the subject leader, who:
- Supports colleagues in their teaching, providing a strategic lead and direction;
- Evaluates the strengths and areas for development in the subject through staff and pupil voice questionnaires;
- Reviews evidence of the children’s work and observes PE lessons.
The quality of teaching and learning in PE is monitored and evaluated by the subject leader and is overseen by the curriculum leader.
Health and Safety
We recognise that participation in PE and Physical Activities contains an element of risk. Staff are responsible for ensuring that they are familiar with safe practice to reduce the element of risk to the absolute minimum within their control.
Staff are aware of pupils who have special needs with regards to physical activity and make special provision for needs where appropriate e.g. physical disability, asthma.
Staff know about the safe practices involved in moving and using apparatus. Pupils wear appropriate clothing, remove jewellery and tie back long hair. If the removal of jewellery or studs is not possible they should be securely taped and the teacher is confident this strategy is effective. Our School provides an appropriate PE kit for all children and keeps spare sets in school.
- Pupils may be asked to remove shoes when participating in indoor activities such as gymnastics, dance and yoga.
- Correct use of equipment is taught along with any potential hazards, including completing a risk assessment for each area/ space that PE and school sport takes place in.
- Equipment and apparatus are stored safely at the end of each lesson.
- Pupils are taught to consider their own safety and that of others at all times.
Teaching staff should be appropriately dressed to teach PE. We undertake an annual Risk Assessment of the school premises and areas where PE is taught and equipment including PE equipment (PE Lead) as necessary. Risk Assessments are in place for all school sporting trips.
Links to other policies and guidance
Physical education programmes of study: key stages 1 and 2, National curriculum in England September 2013
Guidance to Increase Physical Activity – Public Health England, March 2020
Evidencing the Impact of the PE Sports Grant
Administration of Medicines Policy
Policy Review
This policy will be review by the achievement committee at least every two years, or soon if required.