St Michael’s Physical Education Vision

Our vision is to develop pupils’ competence and confidence in PE so that they are motivated to engage in physical activity and sport and lead healthy, active lives, both now and in the future.

The vision is achieved by:

• A high-quality Early Years physical development (PD) curriculum where children are taught important knowledge about building gross and fine motor skills and given encouragement and support to develop their skills
• A high-quality physical education curriculum for Years 1-6 which matches the breadth and ambition of the national curriculum and provides sufficient time and practice for pupils to meet curriculum goals in carefully selected sports and physical activities
• A curriculum which teaches motor competence progressively, becoming increasingly specific to individual sports as pupils progress through the school
• A curriculum which progressively introduces the particular rules, strategies and tactics of games so that pupils can participate effectively in the selected sports
• A curriculum which links with science and PSHE to teach the benefits of physical activity alongside an understanding of how to participate safely
• High quality teaching where staff have sufficient subject knowledge to provide effective explanations and demonstrations and have the subject expertise to create the best possible conditions for all pupils to learn the curriculum
• Taking the Get Set 4 PE published scheme, with its progression of skills documents, including progression in vocabulary and adapting it to meet the school’s vision and aims
• Providing opportunities for pupils to engage in competitive sports, inspiring them to strive to achieve their personal best
• Teaching pupils the values of resilience, perseverance, fairness, teamwork and respect in sport, and giving pupils the confidence to try something new (See Curriculum Driver 3 Creativity – culture and enrichment and Curriculum Driver 4 Exploration – discovery and adventure).
• Providing examples of positive role models and opportunities to talk about and reflect upon character building experiences in sport

Implementation of the St Michael’s Physical Education Vision

EYFS Curriculum

Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness. Through the St Michael’s Early Years Curriculum, we aim to support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination, which is later linked to early literacy. Reception children are taught these skills across the curriculum, and specifically in opportunities linked to our Curriculum Driver 3 – Creativity (‘Maypole Dancing’) and Curriculum Driver 4 – Exploration (‘Talented Mover’). Children have one standalone PE lesson per week to focus on specific skills, as well as opportunities for physical development during Child Initiated Learning, Forest School and outdoor learning time. The children are well supported by the adults to develop their fundamental movement skills which will form the basis of the PE curriculum in Year 1.

Structure of the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 PE Curriculum

Fundamental Movement Skills and Athletics

Pupils are taught basic movement skills (fundamentals) progressively across Key Stage 1 in order to build their competence and confidence in PE. Pupils are taught the knowledge they will need to access more complex knowledge in Key Stage 2 and are given time to practise what they have learned. Fundamental skills are built upon throughout the school in fitness and athletics lessons each summer term, for example through systematic teaching of running, jumping and throwing skills.

Gymnastics

We have chosen to teach gymnastics throughout the school from Reception to Year 6 in order to teach all pupils about balance, agility and co-ordination.

Dance

Dance is taught from Reception to Year 3, after which pupils have the opportunity to continue to develop their skills in extra-curricular activities led by a specialist dance teacher. All children learn a folk dance or maypole dance and take part in the school’s traditional May Day celebrations every year. Children also have the opportunity to perform in maypole dancing at the annual St Michael’s Community Folk Night.

Swimming

Pupils begin swimming lessons in the summer term of Year 4. These skills are developed in the spring term of Year 5 and the autumn term of Year 6. Swimming lessons take place in St Albans Boys’ School and lessons are taught by specialist swimming instructors.

Outdoor Adventurous Activities and Team Building

Pupils in Year 2 are taught a specific PE unit on Team Building activities in the summer term. This prepares them for a series of Outdoor Adventurous Activities in the autumn term of Year 3. Once pupils have been taught skills such as orienteering, Key Stage 2 teachers can use these skills to take learning across the curriculum outdoors in the school playground and paddock which have been mapped out specifically for this purpose. Pupils in Upper Key Stage 2 take these experiences further during their residential visits to Hudnall Park in Year 5 and to Aylmerton Outdoor Activities Centre in Year 5.

Ball Skills and Invasion and Striking and Fielding Games

Ball skills are introduced in Reception and are taught progressively up to Year 4. From Year 3 to Year 6 ball skills are developed in the sport of dodgeball. Pupils learn to transfer their ball skills to incorporate the specific skills required in football in Years 5 and 6.

Pupils in Years 1 and 2 are introduced to the concept of invasion games. This is built upon in Years 3 and 4 in basketball lessons and then in Years 5 and 6 in netball lessons.

Pupils in the summer term of Years 1 and 2 are introduced to the principles of striking and fielding games. Pupils in Year 3 are introduced to tennis. Striking and fielding skills are built upon in Years 4, 5 and 6 when pupils are taught the specific rules, skills and strategies required for cricket and rounders.

Teaching

Physical Development in Reception Class is taught by Early Years specialists who have the expertise to teach the fundamental movement skills progressively and quickly.

Pupils from Years 1 – 3 are taught one PE lesson / week by their class teacher and a second lesson / week by a specialist sports coach.

All PE lessons in Years 4 – 6 are taught by the school’s sports coach. Swimming is taught by specialist sports teachers from St Albans Boys’ School.

During part of the year, all teachers have the opportunity to be present in lessons taught by the specialist coach in order to develop their own skills and understanding, and to monitor the progress of their pupils.

Inclusion

All pupils take part in PE lessons. Lessons are adapted so that children with special educational needs are able to participate, for example by using a larger ball or a larger racket, or by breaking instructions down into smaller steps and providing visual models. Teaching assistants attend PE lessons where pupils with an identified need require additional support to participate.

Outdoor Learning

All pupils experience Forest School activities for two 6-week blocks per year, in addition to their weekly PE lessons.

Orienteering is introduced in Year 3. Teachers in Key Stage 2 provide opportunities for pupils to use their orienteering skills across the curriculum as a way to make learning more active.

Teachers take learning outside wherever appropriate.

Health and Safety

All PE units of teaching include guidance and reminders about specific safety considerations for the area of the curriculum being taught (see medium term plans).

Staff wear appropriate clothing and footwear when teaching any PE activity.

Children are encouraged to wear appropriate PE clothing for all PE lessons. Reminders are given and spare kit can be borrowed if necessary. Children must not wear any kind of jewellery in PE lessons, including watches. Children with medium/long hair are reminded to tie it up securely.

Extra-curricular activities and enrichment

Lunchtime sports activities for children at Top School (Years 2-6) are provided by the school’s sports coach four days per week.

A programme of ‘after school’ and ‘before school’ clubs is timetabled each term, primarily for key stage 2. Key Stage 1 clubs run in the summer term. Clubs include dodgeball, basketball, netball, football and dance.

A sports day is held each summer, when children compete in a range of activities and races to generate points for their house team.

Key Stage 2 pupils take part in competitive inter-school games, giving the children the chance to compete to represent the school.

Enrichment activities are provided across the year when opportunities locally arise.

Pupil leadership in PE

Each year four pupils are voted into the role of sports ambassadors. A further two pupils are given the role of health and wellbeing ambassadors.

Following training provided by the local sports partnership group, these pupils take on the responsibility of leading playground games and talking to the rest of the school in assemblies about the health benefits of keeping active.

Wellbeing

The PSHE subject leaders have introduced the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’. One of the five ways is ‘keeping active’. The subject leader and pupil ambassadors talk to the school about strategies to achieve this objective and encourage all pupils to participate in physical activity regularly.

Fit 4 Fifteen

In order to increase the amount of physical activity the children take part in, each class has a designated slot to engage in an active mile or 'fit for fifteen' activities, on days when they do not have a PE lesson.

Measuring the Impact of the Physical Education Vision and Implementation

Formative assessment

Observations of pupil progress within each lesson are used to plan subsequent teaching, including addressing misconceptions, adapting teaching where gaps in understanding are seen, targeted support for pupils who need it and signposting to extra opportunities for those with a particular strength in an aspect of the curriculum.

Summative assessment

Summative assessments are made twice each year (February and June) based on the progression of skills documents and discussions between sports coach and class teaching staff. The key objectives for each unit and the assessment criteria can be seen on the medium term plans.

Continuing Professional Development

The PE subject leader attends the local authority annual PE conference.

PE subject leader attends a termly PE cluster group to share good practice.

The school is a member of the local sports partnership groups.

Senior Leadership Team keep abreast of current thinking in PE e.g. through the Ofsted PE subject review and report.

Monitoring

The leadership team monitors provision in PE through:

• observations and learning walks by the subject leader
• teacher/sports coach / subject leader discussions
• pupil voice activities
• an annual 'deep dive' in PE with a member of the senior leadership team
• school visits by the PE link governor

Action Plan

Monitoring activities and an analysis of attainment and progress are used to formulate the subject leader action plan, including next steps to continuously improve provision, which is updated twice each year.

Additional Documentation

Long term plan

Overview of sports taught

Medium term plans, including EYFS (‘Maypole Dancing’ and ‘Talented Mover’)

Skills progression documents for each area of the curriculum (Get Set 4 PE)  

Vocabulary progression for each area of the curriculum (Get Set 4 PE)

Sports club timetable

Sports Premium impact documentation

The St Michael’s PE Executive Summary is reviewed annually.

Latest revision: April 2024