Physical Education

Intent:

At All Saints CE Primary School, it is our intent that all children will be ‘lifelong participants’ in physical activity – not everyone wants to be the next Olympian but physical wellbeing is important for all - with the knowledge and skills to apply their learning to a range of different sports and activities.

We have a shared the vision that Physical Education is not only important for children’s physical health but also their mental wellbeing. The ‘feel good factor’ generated by physical activity is often lost within PE lessons; we aim to make Physical Education enjoyable and accessible to all children.

Physical Education coupled with Forest School supports essential team building skills and helps to maintain health, self-esteem and confidence. We endeavour to introduce children to a wide range of sports so that they can find the activity that appeals to them and that they can pursue beyond their time in school, whether that be competitive or recreational.

Every child at All Saints matters and we believe that every child should experience the feeling of representing their school in a sporting context and the knowledge and skills attained from the broad and balanced curriculum will give all children the confidence to say ‘yes!’ when the opportunity arises.

It is important that Physical Education opportunities at All Saints extend beyond the curriculum to enable children to extend their interests and hone their skills further. The offer of ‘free’ afterschool clubs, community sporting links and organized lunchtime activities are imperative to this.

Implementation:

Physical Education is provided through a well-thought out, balanced curriculum. Physical literacy is developed gymnastics, dance, athletics, games, swimming and Forest School. The offer of an afternoon or equivalent of curriculum PE a week is available to all year groups. Carefully constructed progression of skills and progression of knowledge documents support the programme of study and inform the overview of unit progression.

Physical literacy begins in our nursery, and at each milestone (end of Key Stage) knowledge and skills are assessed through key questions and linked success criteria. Repetition of knowledge, skills and activities/sports allow children to refine and further their skills that they have already learnt through previous years. Cross-activity skill transfer is key to developing the all-round sports person and the Key Stage 2 curriculum allows this to happen through a range of invasion, net/wall and striking/fielding games.

Teachers are empowered to use a combination of: CPD opportunities provided by NGB’s (Tennis Foundation, ECB, RFU and FA) and PE lead, Unit Progression document, linked to the Knowledge and Skills Progression documents and a number of freely available PE schemes to deliver engaging and progressive lessons. Coupled with the knowledge and experience of a secondary trained PE lead the school works closely with the local secondary schools - this allows the children to receive an extended opportunity for specialised teaching (3 sports specific ‘free’ afterschool clubs a week). These extra-curricular opportunities enable children to specialize with further signposting and established links to local sports clubs: SC Pass & Move, Bexhill United Ladies FC, Sidley Cricket Club, Wildcats Girls Football, Hydro Swim School, hasting Seaguls Swimming & Water Polo and Sidley BMX club, to name a few. As a result of these links many children take up a variety of sports externally, which embeds our aim of ‘lifelong participants’.

Swimming, in a 12 week block of 30 minute sessions, is provided for all children in years 3, 4 and 5. Water safety is learnt through activities provided across the wider curriculum (Year 4 local history topic focusing on The Mary Stanford Lifeboat Disaster) and our Wellbeing week at the end of term 6.

Forest School offers children the opportunity to experience Outdoor Adventurous Activities and being creative in the woods from Nursery to Year 6. This enables children to develop different kinds of physical literacy in a less traditional sporting context. Children in year 5 and 6 have the opportunity to attend an annual residential visit, where they take part in traditional outdoor and adventurous activities, which are organised and supervised by qualified members of site staff.

We pride ourselves on the provision of variety of ‘free’ sporting afterschool clubs. Clubs on offer, to all age groups excluding nursery, include: football, netball, tennis, multi-sports, basketball, cricket, tag rugby, table tennis and many more. Throughout the year children are given the opportunity to broaden their experiences through activities such as: kayaking, paddle boarding, BMX riding, yoga and trips to see sporting events. All of which are linked back to providing opportunities to become ‘lifelong participants’.

Inter-school competition is simple; we say ‘yes’. This approach allows our children the opportunity to gain the experience and feeling of representing their school. The feeling of winning (even if it is just one game) can last a lifetime. Scoring a goal or being part of a team where someone does something special – even if it isn’t you – can inspire others to experience that feeling. By saying ‘yes’ to all opportunities, we provide the opportunity for all children to ‘represent their school’ and be part of something special and every now and again something special does happen!

Impact:

Our PE curriculum allows the children to develop age-appropriate skills in Physical Education and the opportunity to transfer this knowledge and skills into other sports and everyday activities. It is hoped that ‘Our’ Physical Education approach will spark a love of sport, physical activity and competition. Enabling our children to have the passion to engage in extra-curricular sporting opportunities provided by the school, local clubs and wider community. Through our programme of study and whole offer of Physical Education, we believe we can equip children with skills in team building, promote physical and mental health and boost confidence making for more resilient citizens of the future.

As a result of our Physical Education approach we are extremely proud to have been awarded the Gold standard for School Games Mark for the last 3 years, had 74% of KS2 children represent the school (84% in Year 6), 89% of KS2 SEND children represented the school in an inter-school sporting event and we hosted a SEND specific Boccia event where 6 schools attended and the event was run by sports leaders from All Saints and Bexhill Academy (Data as of end of school year 2023/24).

Click on a badge below if you want to find out more and get involved.