Look at the amazing things going on in PE at St Paulinus

Curriculum Intent:

How do we intend to achieve our curriculum vision in PE lessons?

 At St Paulinus we’re passionate about giving our children the richest opportunities possible in order to develop their physical literacy. Our aim is to ensure all children are developing a love of physical activity that they will take with them throughout life.

Our PE lessons follow the Get Set 4 PE Scheme and give our children the opportunity to explore a wide range of different sports throughout their Primary Education. Our curriculum begins in Nursery and develops all the way through to Year 6, building on and embedding fundamental skills alongside teaching our children about rules, competitive sports, teamwork and fairness.

We also employ a professional coach who trains our children to develop their skills further and supports the children when taking part in sporting events, particularly the competitive events. Our PE coach offers lunch time and after school sports clubs (this is done on a rota system so all classes will benefit). In addition to this, we have also organised for our coach to take small groups of SEND pupils to take part in a gross motor skills club.

We are very active members of the Batley Schools Sports Association as well as our local Sports Partnership with a long track record of participation. Our active participation has allowed us to achieve the Gold sports award for the last 3 consecutive years.

Physical Education (PE) , school sport and physical activity are an integral part of a child’s development. At St. Paulinus we endeavour to offer a rich, broad, and balanced curriculum, where Physical Education is a critical element. Our aim is to produce learners who are active, positive, tolerant, inclusive and healthy young people through high quality PE.  During physical activity children at St. Paulinus can develop their fundamental movement skills, such as agility, balance and co-ordination, but they also have the opportunity to improve their social, emotional and intellectual skills.  We will plan opportunities for children to enhance their leadership skills, communication and trust, independence, fairness and respect, co-operation and acceptance of responsibility.

At St. Paulinus we follow the National Curriculum for Physical Education, which outlines the aims as:

• Develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities
• Children are physically active for sustained periods of time
• Children engage in competitive sports and activities
• Children lead healthy, active lives.

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 own success.

Pupils should be taught to:

• Use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in 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.

At St. Paulinus Primary Academy:

Children take part in 2 hours of Physical education, school sports or physical activity every week, which takes place both indoors, in our school hall and dance studio, as well as outdoors on the playground and playing fields. Year 5 also take part in weekly swimming lessons for six months which are held at Batley Sports Centre.  The programme includes water confidence, safety and stroke technique. Our long term plan below shows the skills our children focus on in their Physical Education lessons.

Curriculum Implementation:

What does PE teaching look like?

The structure of a PE lessons usually follows this structure:

• Stretch/warm up – A fun game or activity to get children active (Health and safety procedures during P.E) applying known skills, focusing on stretching/warming up the whole body. (E.g traffic light game, domes and dishes)
• Introduce new skill – A modelled skill by the teacher
• Practise new skill/s – Children demonstrate the new skills/s individually/ paired/ groups. Teacher to notice any misconceptions and address
• Apply new skill/s – Apply the new skill/s in a game usually in a pair/group. KS2 – apply learnt skills in a team game with rules.
• Cool down – Slow movements/stretches to lower heart rate and reduce activity levels. (E.g. low intensity game)

Teaching focuses on fundamental physical skills to support children as they develop through the year groups to play team and individual sports. Modelling, practising and repetition across lessons, applying their skills in a range of games/ sports, will build their confidence and develop their performance, accuracy, and talent. 

Children are assessed in EYU continually for ‘Moving and Handling’ and are formally assessed every term every half term using both formative and summative assessments as appropriate.

Lessons in PE are also supplemented by many sporting events, competitions, lunch and after school clubs throughout the year.

Curriculum impact:

What do our outcomes in PE look like? How successful is our PE teaching?:

You can see some of the impact of our curriculum in the work at the top of the page.  Below you will find some quotes from children when asked about their PE lessons.

PE at St. Paulinus

KS1 PE

In Year 1/2 children have been focusing on Yoga in their PE lessons. Children have been using their balance skills learnt in EYFS and are holding their positions with good control and balance.

National Fitness day 2024 – 10@10

Every class in our school took part in the 10@10, 10 minutes of fitness at 10 am to celebrate National Fitness Day, we are encouraging children to be more physically active throughout their school day.