Physical Education

Our Aim

Fell Dyke Community Primary School believes that Physical Education, Physical Activity and School Sport are vital to developing a child’s confidence, physical ability and well-being. Children complete 2 hours worth of PE each week. We aim to challenge every child, irrespective of their ability, to reach their full potential through high quality, creative and diverse teaching experiences in PE lessons, activities and events. Pupils are encouraged to appreciate the importance of a healthy and fit body and begin to understand those factors that affect health, fitness and personal wellbeing. The 2014 National Curriculum for Physical Education aims to ensure that all pupils: develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities, are physically active for sustained periods of time, engage in competitive sports and activities and lead healthy, active lives.

Curriculum Organisation

At Fell Dyke Primary School we have developed a curriculum which clearly builds on previous work and achievements and which provides the opportunity for progression of skills whilst offering a wide variety of sports. Each class has been allocated two hours of curriculum PE, in line with the governments’ proposal for primary aged children. With mixed age classes in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. This means that certain year groups’ curriculums are alternated to ensure that all sports and basic skills have been covered. Our aim for sports is that children are able to participate in a variety of games, competitions and tournaments; therefore, we have ensured that children are exposed to a broad and balanced mix as they progress through school. Skills that are taught in Key Stage 1 are revisited in Key Stage 2 and refined as children learn and develop their knowledge of the subject.

In Nursery and Reception, children begin their journey of physical development, learn to negotiate space, travel in different directions, use equipment safely and starts to successfully move objects through pushing, pulling, throwing and catching. They will start to develop their basic movement skills to help them progress in later stages.

In Year 1 and Year 2 the focus is on building the children’s knowledge of basic skills in Physical Education (running, jumping, throwing and catching). They will develop confidence and competence in these areas as well as gain a basic understanding of some popular sports and competitive activities such as football, basketball, athletics, golf, gymnastics, dance and outdoor and adventurous activities. They will start to play simplified versions of these games or focus on certain aspects of them in isolation. The children will be invited to participate in small competitions and festivals to allow them time to understand how these activities link to sporting events in the wider world.

In Year 3 and Year 4 children start to use their skills and knowledge to play games and learn the fundamental rules of sports. They will continue to progress their basic skills; however, will start to communicate with teammates and play small-sided games. They will take part in activities such as tennis, football, netball, rugby, gymnastics, dance, hockey, rounders and athletics. This differs from the versions of the sports in earlier years as children start to be able to put their skills (learned in isolation) together while moving and playing. The children will start to participate in intra-school competitions within their phase to win a class trophy and will also start to take part in larger scale inter competitions and tournaments. This develops a sense of team work.

Finally, in Year 5 and Year 6, children are expected to have confidence in the basic skills needed for physical activity and sports and they will start to understand the tactics of games, sports and athletic activities. They will take part in subjects such as football, rugby, basketball, dance, gymnastics, netball, hockey and athletics, again building on previous knowledge. However, at this stage of development, children will be asked to think about the logistics and tactics of games. They will work as a team, building on their communication skills and will develop a sense of sportsmanship and resilience when faced with defeat. They will participate in a range of intra-school competitions within their year groups to win a class trophy and will also be invited to level 2 and 3 inter-school tournaments (where we always aim that more than one team from our school will compete).

Throughout their school journey, children will experience high-quality educational visits to sporting events, competitions and tournaments. This will allow them to develop their understanding of sports and physical activity in the wider world. School assemblies, celebrations and events will link to major events in the wider world (Olympics, World Cups and other major sporting events). Visitors are planned to visit school and deliver inspirational talks and assemblies to provide children with the best experiences and to broaden their horizons and knowledge. As a school we aim to provide a calendar of events to promote physical health and active children. We are an active member of the Sainsbury’s School Games Award and as such ensure that a School Games Day is planned and delivered each year (usually in the Spring Term): this ensures that children are taught the values of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and are exposed to a variety of games and sports that they may otherwise not participate in. Fell Dyke also schedule a School Sport’s Day in Summer Term, where parents and carers are invited to celebrate our sporting successes.

Knowledge, Progress and Assessment

After completing the Physical Education curriculum, we would expect children to have acquired a broad and sufficiently deep level of knowledge, skills, movements and understanding of sports, games, activities and awareness of their own health. To support this, we have designed assessment statements that ensure children are challenged sufficiently in each year group. In the first lesson teachers will use a Core Task Assessment (designed by the Gateshead School Sports Partnership) to assess the classes understanding in that area – the statements are shared with children for their own personal development at this stage. The statements are rag rated according to the standard that the children have met them. Green means that more than 80% of pupils meet that particular statement and that this may not be a key focus for future teaching but revisited as a small part of lessons; yellow means that 50-79% of pupils are demonstrating a skill and this may be an area for development for most pupils; red means that less than 50% of pupils have met a statement and this should be an area of skills that need to be focused on in subsequent lessons. Core Tasks are revisited at the end of a unit and a further assessment is discussed with the children. At this stage it is expected that areas of development have been focused on and are now yellow or green. With children revisiting the same games and activities throughout each key stage we expect that they will have a good subject knowledge when they are asked to participate in an area of the PE curriculum, and are keen to develop their skills further in the subject area.