Physical Education

Purpose of study

A high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sports 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 sports and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.

Aims

The 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
engage in competitive sports and activities
lead healthy, active lives

National Curriculum in England Purpose of Study

Our Physical Education Lead is Mr Matthew Postin

Subject content

EYFS

What does the early year's foundation stage (EYFS) framework say about physical development?

Physical gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, coordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing play opportunities both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, coordination and agility.

Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being.
Fine motor control and precision help with hand-eye coordination which is later linked to early literacy.
Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.
Activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives.

Why core strength and coordination is important

Core strength is children’s ability to keep their position and move from the centre of their body outwards. If core strength is underdeveloped, children will struggle with gross motor skills and fine motor skills, stability and balance. This will affect their ability to coordinate more refined movements.

Coordination is the brain’s ability to control the movement of different body parts at the same time. When babies are born, their most developed body part is their head, and the least developed is their feet. It takes 2 months before an infant recognises their hands as their own.

To be confident with movement children must develop both core strength and coordination.

Developing core strength and coordination supports children’s ability to communicate, learn language and eventually read and write. Whole body movements contribute to the accurate use of small tools and delicate materials. Writing, drawing and painting should be considered as whole-body skills.

Video

In this video, an early years expert explains the importance of core strength and coordination in the early years foundation stage framework.

Key stage 1

Pupils should develop fundamental movement skills, become increasingly competent and confident and access a broad range of opportunities to extend their agility, balance and coordination, individually and with others. They should be able to engage in competitive (both against self and against others) and cooperative physical activities, in a range of increasingly challenging situations.

Pupils should be taught to:

master basic movements including running, jumping, throwing and catching, as well as developing balance, agility and co-ordination, and begin to apply these in a range of activities
participate in team games, developing simple tactics for attacking and defending
perform dances using simple movement patterns

Key stage 2

Pupils should continue to apply and develop a broader range of skills, learning how to use them in different ways and to link them to make actions and sequences of movement. They should enjoy communicating, collaborating and competing with each other. They should develop an understanding of how to improve in different physical activities and sports and learn how to evaluate and recognise their success.

Pupils should be taught to:

use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and combination
play competitive games, modified where appropriate [for example, badminton, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, netball, rounders and tennis], and apply basic principles suitable for attacking and defending
develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance [for example, through athletics and gymnastics]
perform dances using a range of movement patterns
take part in outdoor and adventurous activity challenges both individually and within a team
compare their performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best

Swimming and water safety

Our school provides swimming instruction in key stage 2.

Pupils are 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